I strongly recommend…

I strongly recommend removing Section 10 from Bill 66.

The omnibus Bill 66 contains some no doubt useful sections, however, Section 10 is not one of them. It paves the way for flagrant contraventions of current and long-standing legislation to protect water, environment, historic districts, native populations, and the Greenbelt, and will directly affect the health and well-being of thousands, if not millions, of people in Ontario.

With no checks and balances on municipalities, and no possibility of appeal, excessive development of Greenbelt lands can easily spiral out of control. The Crombie Report explicitly states that Ontarians overwhelmingly want the Greenbelt expanded, not turned into an enormous development. Water quality and protection could quickly revert to pre-Walkerton standards, endangering lives.

Ontario has been losing its class A farmland to development over the last 50 years. Once it's gone, it cannot be replaced. How will we feed our "Open for Business" population if we pave over our quality farmland? You can't farm the north.

The bill appears to favour larger businesses, which is not realistic in Canada where almost 80 percent of jobs in the private sector are created by small businesses and over 50 percent of those have 4 or fewer employees.

The concept of "Restoring Ontario's Competiveness" is somewhat specious. When has Ontario NOT been open for business or been competitive? I suspect you are creating an issue here where no issue exists.

Please take the responsible action and either remove Section 10 from Bill 66, or stop the bill now.