Late Friday, November 4th, Premier Ford’s Government broke a long standing promise not to allow development on the Greenbelt. The Government now proposes to take 7,400 acres of precious farmland and natural areas out of Greenbelt protection as a purported “solution” to the housing crisis and to add new land to the Greenbelt to make up for the loss.
What Premier Ford conveniently forgets to mention is that there are over 88,000 acres across the GTHA that are already designated and ready for development in addition to large amounts of land in existing urban areas that are close to transit and services people want.
We need your help to stop the Ford Government proceeding with this terrible proposal.
Below are a number of actions you can take.
For Organizations:
- Contact your supporters and ask them to:
- Contact their local MPP today (see talking points below)
- Contact you local Mayor and Councillors and ask them to speak out against this land grab (see talking points belo
2. Be ready to sign a joint submission to the Environmental Registry of Ontario with dozens of other groups. Email franzgreenbeltalliance@gmail.com to let him know you are interested.
For Individuals:
- Contact your local MPP and local Council today, especially if they are a Conservative (see talking points below)
- Contact your friends and family and talk to them about what’s at stake and ask them to help you reach out to elected officials
- Use your social media channels to share content from the Ontario Greenbelt Alliance and groups like Environmental Defence and Ontario Nature.
- Make a formal submission through the Environmental Registry of Ontario (see OGA Statement for possible content)
- Reach out to local media and talk to them about this (use OGA Statement for additional talking points).
Remember, this land grab is part of a larger set of actions by the Province to push sprawl development across the Greater Golden Horseshoe. The proposed Bill 23 and related regulatory changes is a huge attack on sustainable planning, undermine our ability to be climate ready while doing very little to build the affordable mixed housing we need. Check out this great webinar for a primer on the huge problems with Bill 23.
Talking Points For Conversations with Elected Officials
- To truly solve the housing crisis, the Province should focus on land in existing urban areas that is close to transit and services people want and then focus on the 88,000 acres of land in the GTHA that are already designated for development
- Removing 7,400 acres of farmland and natural areas from Greenbelt protection will not solve the housing crisis and will create a whole new set of problems:
- Harming Ontario’s food security by reducing our ability to grow fresh local food.
- Destroying land that provides key ecological services like flood protection and carbon sequestration that we will increasingly rely on as the climate crisis worsens
- Setting a destructive precedent that Greenbelt protected lands will be sacrificed when land speculators want to develop them therefore creating an ecologically damaged “swiss cheese” Greenbelt;
- I do support adding more lands to the Greenbelt, including urban river valleys
- For MPPs: I urge you to tell the Premier today to scrap his plan to take land out of the Greenbelt. And if he’s serious about solving the housing crisis, then focus on lands ready for development.
- For Local Council: Please contact our local MPP and tell them you oppose his plan to take land out of the Greenbelt
- For Local Council: Please work with your fellow Council members to send a formal message to your MPPs, Minister Clark and the Premier expressing your opposition to removing lands from the Greenbelt. Ask them to solve the housing crisis by focusing on lands ready for development.
