I oppose the Ford government…

I oppose the Ford government's proposed amendments to the Greenbelt Plan on environmental and ethical grounds. I am a longtime resident of Hamilton, which would be negatively affected by several of the proposed cuts to the Greenbelt. The government's rationale that there would be a net increase of 2K acres ignores the reality that these acreages are not environmentally equivalent; the protected Greenbelt lands have much great environmental value and that is why they are designated for protection.

As a professional ethicist - I hold the Canada Research Chair in Ethics at the University of Guelph - I am appalled and alarmed at the revelation that developers in the GTA have been buying up properties in the protected Greenbelt in recent years at premium prices, despite Premier Ford's public promise not to allow development on this land. It is obvious that these developers expected to be able to one day develop on these protected lands. The revelation that several of the developers who purchased Greenbelt land in recent years are big donors to the Tories - De Gasperis, his family members, and several executives of his firm - is surely grounds for an investigation by the Ethics Commissioner.

The violation of public trust represented by this proposal to carve up the protected Greenbelt for development is enormous. Premier Ford publicly promised not to respect voters' plea that it be conserved. In the case of Hamilton, residents have spoken loud and clear - we want the current urban boundary maintained, and the Greenbelt preserved. There are ample studies showing an abundance of urban lands available for (re)development for the purpose of building housing, especially low-rise and mid-rise housing.