I am a senior living in…

I am a senior living in midtown Toronto and I strongly disagree with the proposed sell-off of parts of Ontario's Greenbelt for development.

The government's own housing task force has said that the shortage of housing in the province is not due to a lack of land, so there is no need to develop this land.

The Greenbelt is vital to Ontario's food security and environmental protection, especially with the increasing effects of climate change.

The proposed legislation also reduces the powers of local conservation authorities, which play a vital role in land use management and environmental protection. With increasing climate change, conservation authorities need an expanded role, not a reduced one.

The legislation also proposes eliminating development fees, which are essential for municipalities in order to provide the necessary infrastructure and public amenities that run alongside any new development. Without development fees, municipalities will be forced to raise taxes at a time of rampant inflation and/or cut municipal services, which in a time of economic hardship are needed more than ever.

Further, as many local and international experts in urban planning and land use have noted, urban sprawl is both an environmental and economic disaster. Sprawl eliminates vital farmland and carbon-storing wetlands, causes habitat and biodiversity loss, enhances automobile use and the resulting generation of carbon emissions, reduces quality of life by forcing citizens into long daily commutes to and from work, and bankrupts cities forced to spend more for spread-out infrastructure while reducing potential tax revenue because of low-density neighbourhoods.

And finally, both the Premier and the Housing Minister have repeatedly stated publicly that they will not open up the Greenbelt for development. Their sudden reversal on this issue is nothing more than pandering to the already wealthy development industry. Many of the parcels of land to be opened are owned by prominent developers, and many of the purchases were made quite recently. These same developers are also major financial supporters of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party.

Ontario certainly has a housing crisis. But the proposed legislation fails to address the issue. Low density housing in far-flung suburbs just doesn't contribute enough housing, let alone affordable housing. The answer lies in increasing density in already developed areas, particularly by adding small multi-unit buildings in low density inner suburbs, increasing density on transit routes, enacting curbs on speculation and financialization in the real estate market, and greatly increasing the supply of co-operatively owned housing. As well, enhanced income supports for low-income Ontarians, bringing in a guaranteed livable income, and extensive investment in deep-energy retrofits of existing building stock to lower operating costs would not only make housing more affordable but would create thousands of good new jobs, boost the economy, reduce carbon emissions and put the province on the path to a post-carbon world, improve the livability of Ontario's communities, and enhance the quality of life for everyone in the province.

The Government of Ontario needs to scrap this legislation to open the Greenbelt and bring in a real housing plan.