Ontario Greens leader and Guelph MPP, Mike Schreiner, released the following statement after tabling a motion in the legislature today calling on the Ford government to immediately halt plans to open up the Greenbelt to development.
“People want Doug Ford to keep his promise not to develop the Greenbelt.
We can address the deepening housing affordability crisis without destroying the places we love, the farmland that feeds us, and the nature that protects us.
A report from the government’s own Housing Affordability Task Force stated categorically: a shortage of land is not the cause of the housing crisis. The task force went on to say that the Greenbelt, along with other environmentally sensitive areas and farms, must be protected.
Ford’s broken promise to open the Greenbelt to development flies in the face of his own Housing Affordability Task Force and his repeated commitment to keep his hands off the Greenbelt.
As recent media investigations show, Ford’s singular focus seems to be on helping Greenbelt land speculators and pro-sprawl developers turn millions into billions.
Doug Ford must stop pushing the false narrative that we have to choose between building housing and protecting the environment.
We can build the housing we need where people, especially young people, want to live – in affordable 15-minute communities where they can be close to jobs, family, shops, and transit.
That’s why the motion I tabled today calls on the government to:
• immediately halt plans to open up the Greenbelt for development,
• permanently protect prime farmland, and
• commit to building at least 1.5 million homes within existing urban boundaries.”
Parry Sound Muskoka Green Party of Ontario candidate of record Matt Richter added, “Whether it be the ill advised, unnecessary multi billion dollar Hwy 413, or the preposterous idea of duping the public to proceed with opening the Greenbelt, this Ontario PC government needs to be reminded that the public does not approve. Across Parry Sound-Muskoka and all of Ontario, people understand the need to have both a strong economy and a protected environment. However, these recent illogical ideas are incomprehensible and need to be reconsidered immediately.”
Local Green volunteers will participate in the door-to-door Provincial Day of Action this Saturday, Nov. 26 in Huntsville, Gravenhurst, Bracebridge, Parry Sound, and Burks Falls.
The day of action relates to Ontario’s proposed Bill 23, More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022, which is currently in its third reading.
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This is my response that was emailed to Graydon Smith
Dear Mr. Smith
I am concerned about the motive and reasoning behind Bill 23.
My husband and I live in Huntsville. The reason we moved to Huntsville was to find our peace and calm away from the drone of city traffic and over populated areas. Our children enjoyed so many summers in muskoka. specifically Huntsville, at B&B’s, Camp Tawingo and cottages; all the while respecting the people and beauty of muskoka.
I am rather surprised that you the previous mayor of Bracebridge (with flooding issues) would think this was prudent to address the housing issue in muskoka. Wildlife is being harmed by constant blasting and losing their natural habitat.
Also ongoing concerns over our turtle population.
I have heard that it is Huntsville’s goal to become the “New Barrie” It makes me very sad. I can appreciate now more than ever the attitude of the original Huntsvillians and Muskokans toward the influx of city people moving to their beloved Muskoka. You are taking away all that is unique and beautiful.
I do appreciate the affordable housing issue; however, how does $1500 a month
for a 1 bdrm 500 square foot apartment justify affordable housing for someone on O.D.S.P.? How does this address the very real climate crisis, in taking away our water table and conservancy lands for reforestation that people have willed to the municipalities to ensure the preservation of our wet lands? There has been so much deforestation in Huntsville because of developers courting our planning departments. It is heartbreaking to see our leaders taking money over common sense.
I think it is so deceitful, that you are submitting a bill when new councils are just being organized. I expected this from Doug Ford, but not from you.
Unfortunately we weren’t able to vote this past election because of a family emergency election day. However, now more than ever, I truly understand every vote counts!
Shame on you
Shoana Skalko
Huntsville Ontario
The Green Belt was established to preserve farmlands, protect natural infrastructure like the wetlands that are integral parts of watersheds, providing water filtration, flood prevention and water quality- ultimately for drinking water and agriculture. Wetlands are even more efficient sequestering carbon than forests.Woodlands refresh and contribute to our quality of life. These natural areas are living infrastructures where they are, in their watersheds, that cannot be cutout and swapped for other chunks of land.Habitats are not delineated by survey lot lines, but connected to their surroundings: damaged by hardened surfaces of roads, parking lots and buildings. Constructing equivalent spaces functionally is not a cost feasible for developers or taxpayers. Even if you disregard the loss of wildlife, including threatened species, chipping up the Greenbelt will dry up Ontario’s resilience in the face of climate change intensities – floods, droughts, heat and fire in the next decade. Whatever urban sprawl bites into the Greenbelt is not affordable to our future. It is that heavy foot on the accelerator to climate chaos.
Perhaps it is worth considering some history related to the Ontario greenbelt concept.
In 1945, “despite new roads and the London Underground, London traffic congestion and pollution was forecast to become highly problematic unless development could be encouraged outside of a contiguous capital city. A solution emerged from study of the measures taken to preserve areas surrounding Paris, and a movement to expand instead satellite towns and other towns in France”.
For the same reasons, in 1973, the Bill Davis Conservatives passed the Niagara Escarpment Planning and Development Act that sought to protect 2 million acres of important environmentally sensitive farmland and encourage developments at the points of a triangle defined by Waterloo, Barrie, and Belleville. Due to the pressure of population growth and development, Bill Davis’s plan was only marginally successful.
The Golden Horseshoe became one of the fastest growing areas in North America. Because the highway and rail systems are constrained by Lake Ontario, the 18 lanes of Highway 401 across the top of Toronto became the busiest highway in North America. In 2005, the McGuinty Liberals put more teeth in the Greenbelt legislation to try to manage growth in a more sustainable manner. Every year that goal becomes more important but more difficult.
To replace finite fossil fuels before we run out of them, the world needs every kwh of every type of zero-emission energy we can muster. That includes hydro, wind, solar, nuclear, and geothermal, with hydrogen as a storage medium. Large-scale battery storage is not feasible for the electricity grid. Grid batteries compete for scarce materials needed to make batteries for global production of 50 to 75 million electric vehicles per year. (More public transit would reduce the number of private vehicles but is not economically or practically feasible in low density areas.)
Full disclosure. I consider myself to be a moderate environmentalist. My most strident colleagues need to stop talking out of both sides of their mouth. They oppose the development of a few, strategically located, safe, small modular reactors that would produce consistently year-round on 200 acres of land. But at the drop of a hat, they would cover 20,000 acres of carbon absorbing greenspace with solar panels that produce equivalent energy annually, but very little in winter. In northern industrial countries, solar produces well as a source of peak power in summer but produces at capacity for only 3% of the total hours in December. 50% of Canada’s emissions come from producing and using oil in conventional vehicles. Electric vehicles must be priority one. Relying on solar power to charge electric cars in December would be a big mistake. Germany is discovering that the hard way. We can avoid that mistake.
Canada needs more people, particularly young people, to replace our retiring baby boomers. Immigrants seem to prefer the diversity of the GTHA. The GTHA population is predicted to reach over 11 million by 2035. That would put the GTHA population by itself at about the same level as the rest of Canada, either east or west of Ontario. Bold measures are required to prevent unmanageable urban sprawl in the GTHA. The problem requires a re-think by both the Ford government and environmentalists. The problem requires a wholistic approach that considers a level of population that will provide the needed workforce, along with the housing and clean energy to support that population. Canada has all the expertise, resources, space, and 30 years needed to do this. Perhaps Doug Ford needs to ask the feds to help shift more of the expected population growth to other parts of this vast empty country.
Of course it’s not just paving and building on the greenbelt.
After Ford promised to protect it.
Also overriding municipal zoning and planning rules and allowing developers to buy your neighbour’s house, knock it and all the trees down and put up a triplex.
Affordable? Of course not.
Developers will get 3X the money for a triplex than they paid for the original house.
Gold mine.
Also not allowing municipalities to charge 10s of millions of dollars in development fees to developers for the new services so everyone’s property taxes go up instead.
Flood plain? Go ahead and build on top of it. What could go wrong?
Conservation Authorities no longer have any authority.
What’s next?
Eliminating the building code?
It’s just more red tape slowing down Ford’s developer buddies from slapping together exorbitantly priced garbage.
Building properly would mean less profit so forget that.
Ottawa’s mayor refused to use his new strong mayor powers to override his own council.
Rightly so.
“Mayor of Ottawa ignores Ford’s strong mayor powers
‘A gross abuse of democracy’: Some Ottawa city councillors slam province’s bylaw plan”
I agee. The only winners from this bill will be greedy, ultra-rich developers and land speculators. This is a very obvious attempt by Doug Ford to enrich his buddies at our collective expense.
Ford’s blatant dishonesty—promising one thing and doing the opposite—sets a new low standard in political duplicity. It is disgusting. So is the fact that we, the electors and taxpayers of Ontario, continue to support him and his provincial Conservatives.
Bill 23 must be stopped. This time the Tories have gone too far. Bill 23 insults the principles of democracy and the intelligence of the citizenry by taking away the power and basic rights of the people. It threatens to destroy farmlands by hovering over it with the promise of new housing. Bill 23 will thrust a big negative hit to the environment with disregard for farmland, wetlands, protection of wildlife and preservation of precious green space. Someone recently expounded that every person deserves a roof over their head. Does that make sense when it would come at a cost that will destroy so much else that makes living in this province so great? The only ones who will benefit are the developers and their supporters, those without conscience about the inevitable devastating repercussions on this beautiful province.