TORONTO, Canada: A billboard at the foot of a field on Toronto’s far outskirts heralds the coming construction of new homes, but it also highlights a broken promise never to permit encroachment into this vast green space, and the backlash which has ensued.
Among the many anti-development protesters, a group led by concerned grandmothers has staged demonstrations outside Ontario lawmakers’ offices decrying the loss of swaths of this so-called “Greenbelt” around Canada’s largest metropolitan city.
“My (trust) in the democratic process is destroyed by this move,” says protestor Christine Hutchinson.
A resident of Oakville, west of Toronto, she adds that she is, however, heartened to see pushback from several area municipalities affected by the policy switch.
By opening 3,000 hectares for new housing in recent months, Doug Ford, the province’s conservative leader with close ties to local developers, went back on a 2018 election pledge not to touch what the foundation tasked with its conservation describes as “the world’s largest” greenbelt.
The horseshoe-shaped 810,000-hectare ring of fertile farmlands, forests and wetlands edge Toronto and nearby cities that hug the north and west shores of Lake Ontario — the most densely populated and industrialized region of Canada.
A mix of private and public lands, they have been protected since 2005 in an effort to limit urban sprawl.
“These lands should be used to feed the local population, as food supply problems increase with climate change,” said Brigitte Sopher, a resident of Whitevale, close to one of the new building areas.
The Ford government has designated 15 locations to build 50,000 homes and contribute to the goal of adding 1.5 million new residences in Ontario by 2031.
To justify his reversal, Ford cited soaring real estate prices and a flood of newcomers needing to be housed, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government aims to boost annual immigration to Canada to 500,000, the majority of whom are likely to settle in large urban centres. —AFP/APP
