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Just when we thought the beloved Greenbelt was safe after the developer debacle last year, the government is providing back door entry, in the Niagara Escarpment for starters, yet everywhere is at risk with the current pending wave of legislation.
What adds salt to the wound is that affordable housing is not even being addressed, just more urban sprawl, fossil gas emissions from pipelines that will be redundant in five years, and less food and clean air to breathe for our children. It’s like the government got their hands slapped but is determined to find another way in.
In a barrage of legislation that seems designed to overwhelm and distract, and with the guise of housing and economic development, the Greenbelt and our agricultural land is under threat more than it ever was. Proposed amendments to development permit exemptions through ERO 019-8364 in conjunction with proposed Bills 185, 165, 162, ERO 019-8562, and ERO 019-8462 the Provincial Planning Statement, in effect give developers, Enbridge, and the government pretty close to carte blanche over agricultural land and green spaces to take and use as they see fit.
Emissions in Ontario are going the wrong way, and it looks like ‘affordable housing’ is too. Any effective components of BIll 185 are nullified by the other content that allows developers to pick and choose and if municipalities reject a permit, this government is even tying the hands of the Land Tribunal.
The authority of governing bodies like the Niagara Escarpment Commission, the Ontario Energy Board, Conservation Authorities, the Greenbelt Council, and municipalities continue to be eroded in the process.
What happened to Premier Doug Ford’s vow not to touch the Greenbelt? Looks like he needs another reminder of what most Ontarians value.
Melanie Duckett-Wilson
Newmarket