Action Alert: Hands off the Greenbelt, premier!

Bill 23 and accompanying amendments to the Greenbelt Plan will remove environmental standards and weaken tenant protections. They also break our premier’s promise to protect the Greenbelt from development.

Join us! Call on the premier to keep his hands off the Greenbelt.

RNAO has long fought for the right to safe and affordable housing, for environmental standards and for protection of our Greenbelt as fundamental to health. We now demand that the Ontario government withdraw Bill 23 and the Greenbelt Plan amendments. If allowed to stand, this legislation will:

• remove 7,400 acres of Greenbelt land, even though 88,000 acres of land are available for housing construction in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA)
• limit the funding and scope of Conservation Authorities and make it difficult for municipalities to use green building standards
• bar resident appeals of decisions by the Ontario Land Tribunal on development applications, and ban regional planning in the GTHA
• leave unprotected tenants displaced by redevelopment and reduce requirements for affordable housing in new developments

Due to strong public opposition, the government has already made changes to the bill to remove the ban on resident appeals of land tribunal decisions and to allow municipalities to set their own green development and performance standards. While these steps do address two areas of concern, they leave the assault on the environment, local control and tenants otherwise unchanged.

Join us to protect our health and the environment! Call on Premier Ford to keep his hands off the Greenbelt.