OrilliaMatters welcomes letters to the editor at [email protected] or via our website. Please include your full name, daytime phone number and address (for verification of authorship, not publication). The following is an open letter to Premier Doug Ford, Simcoe North MPP Jill Dunlop, Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte MPP Doug Downey, York-Simcoe MPP Caroline Mulroney, and all Ontario PC caucus members.
The Carden Field Naturalists are very concerned about the information released in the auditor general’s special report on changes to the Greenbelt boundaries, August 2023.
To remove 15 land parcels from the protection of the Greenbelt legislation is wrong-headed and a huge mistake. We need this land to preserve our farmlands and our natural heritage.
This land will not meaningfully contribute to meeting Ontario’s housing needs and will only fill the pockets of the developers and politicians who want to make this happen.
The auditor general’s report indicates that the decision to remove these lands from the Greenbelt was biased and gave preferential treatment to certain developers, and did not include valuable input from our experts or affected parties. The report finds no evidence to support these lands are needed to meet Ontario’s housing target. There is sufficient land elsewhere to accomplish that.
We do not trust the government anymore due to its lack of transparency and promise breaking.
Some trust could be restored with the reversal of this decision.
We thank the auditor general in bringing these important transgressions to light. We hope it makes Premier Ford change his mind.
Pamela Fulford and the Carden Field Naturalists executive board
