Demonstrations in 10 Ontario communities urge end to Bill 23


Protesters gathered at 10 communities across Ontario Sunday urging restored protection for the Greenbelt in face of Ontario’s new Bill 23.

From Hamilton and Mississauga to Kitchener and Guelph, demonstrators rallied against the bill, meant to assist in the building of nearly 1.5 million homes on the Greenbelt by 2031.

“We know that we’re losing farmland very rapidly in Ontario, about 300 acres a day, and the land inside of the Greenbelt is mostly class one farmland; we can’t afford to lose any more of it,” Tim Gray, Environmental Defence executive director, told the Star.

Ontario’s government is set to remove protection on nearly 7,400 Greenbelt acres in favour of housing development. (In exchange, 9,400 acres are to be added in other areas of the Greenbelt, which covers two million acres of farm fields, wetlands and other ecological sensitive parcels — but Premier Doug Ford had said repeatedly in the past that his government would leave the Greenbelt alone.)

Sunday’s demonstrators demanded accountability for Ford.

“Tens of thousands of people across the province are enraged, disappointed and want to stop this,” Gray said. The province’s 30-day consultation period on the move ends at 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, and “I have never seen 75 locations coming together in hopes of protecting the environment; it is unprecedented,” Gray said, referring to the number of protests over the last month.

“Housing is needed, but we want to see affordable housing; we want to see responsible and sustainable housing,” Alison Forde, ecologist and Mississauga rally attendee, told the Star.

Protesters in Mississauga gathered around city hall and a similar picture was seen in Kitchener, North Bay and King City, where “Green, not Greed” and “Hands off the Greenbelt” signs rose to the sky throughout the rallies, also held Sunday in Blyth, Brockville, Eden Mills and Elora. (Environmental Defence’s website notes that 11 demonstrations were held on Saturday, including in Toronto.)

“I have been feeling utterly hopeless, and it’s only when I attend events like these and see other people who care who feel the same way I do that when I feel hope again,” Forde said.

Environmental Defence says protesters will gather again in Ottawa, London, Muskoka and Milton this week, “joining hands” to rally against Bill 23 and urge the protection of the Greenbelt.

“Four years ago, the bill to open the Greenbelt to development was proposed, and the public response to that made them change their mind; that’s the same outcome we’re looking for here,” Gray said.

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