Home - Greenbelt Guardians

Premier Ford & PC MPPs are ignoring constituents. What else can we do to stop the destruction of farmland and natural spaces in the Greenbelt and our municipalities?

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Why we are protecting the Greenbelt

Loss of Farmland

Ontario has lost some of the best agricultural land in the world in the past century, and we continue to lose over 319 acres a day – our farmland is being used to create shopping malls, highways, and suburbs. Now another 37,600+ acres of previously protected land is threatened by development (which could feed up to 80,000 people a year depending on dietary choices).

Climate Change

We need to drastically reduce our carbon emissions by 50% by 2030 and get to net-zero by 2050 to have any chance of avoiding catastrophic climate change. Suburban sprawl increases carbon emissions by increasing car usage, decreasing public transportation, and the amount of energy required for heating and cooling such large, detached homes (which are less energy efficient than densification).
Also, land is a carbon sink — helping to regulate the planet’s temperature and store carbon. In the past 10 years, “land-based ecosystems absorbed around 30 per cent of the carbon emissions generated by human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels.” — so we need to protect the land from development.

Flooding & Environmental Impacts

The protected Greenbelt lands and Conservation Authorities were established mainly to protect Ontarians from the risk of flooding. With the recent legislative changes, and opening up these areas to development, more flooding is guaranteed. The suburban sprawl from further development will also increase air pollution due to car usage and the use of natural gas to heat homes. Already air pollution contributes to the loss of 6,600 Ontarians every year.

Food Security

Our part of the world, in the Great Lakes bioregion, will be a climate refuge — meaning that we will be shielded from the worst severe weather effects of climate change. As other parts of the world encounter climate change and lose their capacity to grow food easily — or at all — we need to be able to feed people. We need to preserve our farmland, and rather than supporting profit margins for developers, we need to support growing food for our fellow human beings.

Higher Taxes

Building and maintaining the infrastructure needed for sprawling development will come at huge costs. The Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) estimates that it will cost cities over $5 billion over the next decade, paid for by the taxpayer.