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Ford has proven himself to be an autocratic premier who is environmentally irresponsible (like with the 413 Highway), short sighted and ill-informed. He’s a liar (was quoted a saying who won’t touch Greenbelt) and one who strong arms municipalities into development plans against their will, and without their consultation or approval while ignoring due process, much like the MZO’s (57 of them at last count).
The Greenbelt is to be protected lands, which once developed can never go back to the environmentally sensitive state that they are. Ford’s government has not provided any study or concrete evidence that development of the Greenbelt is necessary. Other leaders in the planning space have indicated that we already have land slated for development, without stealing from the Greenbelt.
Beyond that, the fact that large developers as significant donators to the PC party have purchased large plots of land where development is slated, smacks of insider information and favouritism, and does not pass the smell test.
It is fiscally irresponsible, as Bill 23 dictates, to cut the needed revenue streams from municipalities, especially when post-Covid balance sheets are flooded with red ink, and at a time when infrastructure is in dire need of huge investment. All this to line the pockets of the above developers. This will lead to municipal service cuts, and significantly higher taxes along with new taxes in the form of new revenue streams (like road tolls among others).
We need our provincial government to act in a responsible conciliatory manner with municipalities, instead of using over-arching power to railroading them into inconsiderate developments that tramples environmental and societal considerations, while contributing to urban sprawl and the huge uptick in carbon footprint, all at the benefit of developers.
Lastly, adding Crown land to the Greenbelt (that which will never likely be developed anyway), is no consolation nor trade-off for allowing development in the Greenbelt.
If this is how a PC provincial government under Ford operates, they will surely not have the vote of our organization.
Soumis le 4 décembre 2022 10:39 PM
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Modifications au Plan de la ceinture de verdure
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019-6216
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80090
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