In the 1990s I was a member…

In the 1990s I was a member of the Rural and Small Centres committee, which along with other land use planning committees, created the Provincial Policy Statement, a comprehensive land use plan for Ontario. The PPS inspired citizens with varied expertise to create practical land use plans for their communities. These plans recognised the value of water, clean air, a variety of agricultural land for growing a wide variety of food. Are there items in the PPS that should be "tweaked"? Perhaps, but not without the expertise of sound land use planners and scientists. Using "housing" is no excuse. Housing can go anywhere and recent studies have shown there is ample room for housing already zoned or accommodated in existing Official Plans. Further, Official Plans, based on the PPS, have saved taxpayers an incalculable amount of money, which means money can be invested in education, health care, diversity, and any number of projects of interest to Ontarians.
The short version of my comment is, do not make any changes to the Provincial Policy Statement. The future of Ontario depends on it. Any changes are short sighted.