"Doug Ford's Broken Greenbelt Promises To Voters Are The Real Scam..." May 19, 2023 Canadian News Update and Commentary
Keep building houses on farmland and you’ll see food prices skyrocket even further!
It’s fascinating to see the progression, or should we say regression, of Doug Ford’s often stated commitment to “not touch the Greenbelt”.
Ford’s passionate Greenbelt promises have now been replaced with his characterization of the Greenbelt as a ‘scam’ , and a failed and flawed policy from the Liberal government.
The fact is, the Greenbelt is not a failed policy; it has established guardrails against costly urban sprawl in the GTA; it has protected valuable farmland from being paved over.
Think food prices are high now? Just keep building houses on farmland and you’ll see food prices skyrocket even further!
Plus, the Greenbelt protects environmentally sensitive ecosystems from being destroyed, which would seriously impact the air that we breathe and the water we drink, as well as the beautiful flora and fauna Ontarians get to appreciate.
To be fair, it’s not a perfect document, and there have been exclusions and some additions to the Greenbelt area over the years.
But those changes were enacted after rigorous environmental studies and debate, and the Ford government has effectively shut down any environmental oversight on urban growth. Which pretty much means that where developers build and what they build is at the sole discretion of the Premier’s office, and that’s about as far away from a democratic process as you can get!
Most Ontarians now understand that the inevitable future growth of our communities has to be guided by leaders who are sensitive to how that growth will affect our air, water and the food we need to grow. Not simply guided by who gave the largest political donations to the governing Party!