12,500 Ontarians support growing #ONGreenbelt! Sign the petition to help reach 15,000 #ONpoli #LandUseON #GrowOurGB
Tweet12,500 people have signed our petition to protect our clean drinking water and grow the Greenbelt. Help us get to 15,000!
In April we received our first 1,000 ‘Protect our Water: Grow our Greenbelt’ lawn signs. These are now being distributed to residents in Simcoe, Waterloo, Wellington and Brant County. Contact your local group to show your support and get one for your front lawn!
- Waterloo Region: Kevin Thomason, Grand River Environmental Network ([email protected])
- Simcoe County: Margaret Prophet, Simcoe County Greenbelt Coalition ([email protected])
- Wellington and Guelph: Arlene Slocombe, Wellington Water Watchers ([email protected])
- Brant and Brantford: Ella Haley, Langford Conservancy ([email protected])
Events
On April 5th, 30 farmers and residents gathered in Brant for a forum on “Tools for Protecting and Accessing Farmland,” hosted by the Langford Conservancy. Speakers from the Ontario Farmland Trust, Ontario Greenbelt Alliance, Rare Charitable Reserve and others spoke on topics ranging from the Greenbelt, land protection, and accessing land as a new or young farmer.
Langford Conservancy Forum on “Tools for Protecting and Accessing Farmland”
On Monday, June 5, in Bradford Ontario, the Simcoe County Greenbelt Coalition will be hosting a talk on ‘Farming and Ontario’s Greenbelt” by Professor Wayne Caldwell. He is a recognized expert in agriculture and rural planning, and will be discussing his research and ideas for improving farming viability in and around the Greenbelt. There will be a special introduction from King Councillor and Holland Marsh grower Avia Eek. For more details and to RSVP, click here: http://www.simcoecountygreenbelt.ca/calendar
On Sunday June 11th, 12-5 pm at the Erin Fall Fairgrounds, the Wellington Water Watchers and Riverfest Elora presents Waterstock! After 10 years of diligent work to protect source water in Ontario, Waterstock is the rallying point to send a strong message to Premier Wynne to protect our water against corporate control and exploitation. Inspired by the Foodstock and Soupstock events, Waterstock promises to be a bold, impactful, and historic day full of artisanal food and beverage, music, artistic displays and thousands of supporters uniting to stop the privatization of water. Waterstock will be a tipping point, a ‘watershed’ moment, that will demonstrate broad and far-reaching support for the “Water for Life not Profit” campaign.
Media
- Greenbelt won’t be loosened to ease housing prices, says Wynne, Toronto Star, March 29, 2017 — Premier Wynne states, "We’re committed to growing the Greenbelt not shrinking the Greenbelt."
- Ontario must protect Greenbelt as population pressure increases, Toronto Star, April 7, 2017 – Ajax Mayor Steve Parish and former Toronto Mayor David Crombie write, “The Greenbelt is an essential tool to contain urban sprawl” and call on the province to protect “omitted strategic natural resources, such as the headwaters of Carruthers Creek.”
- Want a livable city? Forget developing the Green Belt, Hamilton Spectator, April 7, 2017 – Developers Robert Eisenberg (York Heritage Properties), Robert Davies (Montgomery Sisam Architects) and Rodney Wilts (Windmill Development Group) write that we need to protect the Greenbelt and grow up, not out.
- Toronto Coming of Age Amidst New Urban Crisis, Urban Toronto, April 20, 2017 – Urbanist and academic Richard Florida argues that “the protection of green spaces like the ravines and The Greenbelt is vital” to Toronto
- What to do and not to do with the housing bubble, Toronto Star, April 19, 2017 - Mitchell Cohen, president of The Daniels Corporation, argues that to address Toronto’s housing crisis the province should “not mess with the Greenbelt or the Places to Grow Act, unless to strengthen them.”
- Oakville mayor asks Province to address housing issues, Inside Halton, April 13, 2017 – Oakville Mayor Rob Burton writes, “There is no single ‘silver bullet’ to deal with the affordability issue, but we should be absolutely clear that the protected farmland and natural heritage areas in the Greenbelt have nothing to do with it”
- Preserving Ontario’s true natural treasure, Toronto Star, April 22, 2017 – John Barber writes about efforts to grow the Greenbelt in Waterloo, Simcoe and other regions.
- Divining the real value of Ontario’s water, Toronto Star, April 22, 2017 – profiles some of the organizations and local leaders working to protect water and grow the Greenbelt.
- Movement for smart growth marks anniversary, King Sentinel, April 27, 2017 – “We need a bigger and better Greenbelt”, write Caroline Schultz and Debbe Crandall