Please remove Schedule 10…

Please remove Schedule 10 from Bill 66.

Ontario's green spaces are important in and of themselves, but they are also important to the future lives and health of Ontarians. The protective provisions of green space legislation should be not only preserved but strengthened.

The Greenbelt preserves farmland and greenspace essential for naturally filtering water and preventing flooding, reducing the impact of extreme storms on infrastructure and stormwater management systems (with these extreme storms occurring on an ever-increasing basis as our climate becomes more erratic). It also helps to combat climate change by storing 86.6 million tonnes of carbon. Importantly, protection of green space also makes financial sense. For example, food and farming in the Greater Golden Horseshoe contribute billions of dollars to the economy and create more than 200,000 jobs, not to mention providing an enormous proportion of Ontarians' food.

It is distressing that Schedule 10 of Bill 66 would allow municipalities to override existing legislative provisions in the Greenbelt Act, Clean Water Act, Lake Simcoe Act, Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Act and Great Lakes Protection Act — provisions that make these benefits possible.

Please remove Schedule 10 from Bill 66.