{"id":126538,"date":"2022-11-25T10:14:33","date_gmt":"2022-11-25T15:14:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/rwddev\/?p=126538"},"modified":"2022-11-25T14:23:24","modified_gmt":"2022-11-25T19:23:24","slug":"the-concept-of-ontarios-greenbelt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/the-concept-of-ontarios-greenbelt\/","title":{"rendered":"The concept of Ontario’s greenbelt | Letters"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Hugh Holland<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps it is worth considering some history related to the Ontario greenbelt concept.<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/broadstreet-zone><\/strong><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In 1945, \u201cdespite 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 the study of the measures taken to preserve areas surrounding Paris, and a movement to expand instead satellite towns and other towns in France\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019s plan was only marginally successful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n

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<\/broadstreet-zone>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Hugh Holland Perhaps it is worth considering some history related to the Ontario greenbelt concept. 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