[All] David Suzuki op-ed in Toronto Star: Waterloo OMB Appeal

[Kevin Thomason]

Hello,

Following the recent OMB decision against Waterloo Region and our innovative Official Plan to protect the environment and grow in a more sustainable manner, many of us have been working to try to see this decision reversed and ensure that we here in Waterloo Region are controlling our future destiny and not some distant court or group of developers.

We need to ensure that the Region of Waterloo is successful in its OMB appeal.  Myself and others reached out to a number of environmental organizations locally, provincially and nationally over the past few weeks to ensure they were aware of our situation and its implications across the province.  One of the most concerned by the precedent being set against SMART growth was the David Suzuki Foundation.  The timing of the OMB decision against Waterloo Region coincided with the release of a DSF report on the Ontario Greenbelt and today Dr. David Suzuki and Dr. Faisal Moola have authored an article in the Toronto Star talking about our situation and the destruction of Canadian farmland:

http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/2013/02/21/urban_sprawl_is_destroying_ontarios_farmland.html

This article is in response to our situation here in Waterloo and the ongoing efforts by developers in Ontario to attack the Official Plans of municipalities that are attempting to reign in rampant urban sprawl.  You can read a recent article in the Star by the builders here as they try to attack Official Plans and the greenbelt lands:

http://www.thestar.com/life/homes/2012/08/24/certainty_needed_for_future_growth_in_the_gta.html

Hopefully these articles and other recent media coverage helps to nudge things in a positive direction.  I know in response to the Waterloo situation and other issues around the province a number of organizations are calling for the disbanding of the OMB, an expansion of the Greenbelt, more protection for farmland, new food and water first campaigns, and increased efforts to ensure a balance to the significant growth that Ontario continues to experience.

I think here in Waterloo we need to make sure that our politicians know that they have the support of the majority of the public and we need to continue to innovate with leading SMART growth solutions to ensure the highest possible quality of life in the future.

Cheers,
Kevin.

----------------------------


From: Faisal Moola <fmoola at davidsuzuki.org>
Subject: David Suzuki op-ed in Toronto Star: prime farmland and sprawl in GTA
Date: 21 February, 2013 11:30:00 AM EST

hello friends

DSF released a report recently on the serious threats to prime farmland and nature in Ontario's Golden Horseshoe from creeping urban development in the region - particularly within a 90,000 ha region called the "Whitebelt", which the developers want opened-up for further urbanization. 

http://www.thestar.com/life/homes/2012/08/24/certainty_needed_for_future_growth_in_the_gta.html

This, despite the fact that some 52,000 ha of approved vacant greenfield land (farmland and nature) is already available to them to be built-out now in the GTA (twice the size of Mississauga). Not to mention, the changing demographics and market conditions that make further urban encroachment onto prime farmland on the edge of the GTA foolhardy at best.

They simply want more.

Today David Suzuki and I have an op-ed in the Toronto Star on the issue. There are links to our study from the page as well if you want to dive deeper:
 
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/2013/02/21/urban_sprawl_is_destroying_ontarios_farmland.html


best wishes and i hope everyone is happy and healthy and enjoying the february sun.

- faisal

Dr. Faisal Moola, PhD
Director General
Ontario and Northern Canada

David Suzuki Foundation
179 John St, Suite 101
Toronto, ON, M5T 1X4
Phone: Mobile: 647.993.5788
Office: 416-348-9885

Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Forestry, University of Toronto 
www.davidsuzuki.org

--------------------------------
Urban sprawl is destroying Ontario’s farmland
Political leaders must end sprawl and create higher-density communities surrounded by local greenbelts of protected farmland.
Text size:IncreaseDecreaseResetShare via EmailPrintReport an Error
Save to Mystar

JOHN OVERMYER / NEWSART
As urban communities have grown over the years, agricultural lands and natural areas have far too often been drained, dug up and paved over.

By: David Suzuki and Faisal Moola Published on Thu Feb 21 2013
EXPLORE THIS STORY
1	PHOTOS
Save to Mystar



Despite its huge area, Canada has relatively little dependable farmland. Good soil and a friendly climate are hard to find. So it seems like good news that on a clear day you can see about half the best agricultural land in Canada from the top of Toronto’s CN Tower. If we’re to feed our growing urban populations, having food lands close to where people live will be critical to sustaining local food security.
Some regions of the country, like the Golden Horseshoe surrounding Toronto, have been blessed with an abundance of Class 1 soils. But an increasing proportion of the best soils in the Golden Horseshoe and in most urbanized regions of Canada now lie beneath sprawling housing developments, highways, strip malls and other infrastructure. As urban communities have grown over the years, agricultural lands and natural areas have far too often been drained, dug up and paved over.
According to a study by Statistics Canada, our growing cities sprawl over what once was mostly farmland. Only 5 per cent of Canada’s entire land base is suitable for growing food. At the same time, urban uses have consumed more than 7,400 square kilometres of dependable farmland in recent decades. That’s an area almost three times the size of Prince Edward Island.
Almost half of Canada’s urban base now occupies land that only a few generations ago was being farmed. For the most part, this land can’t be used for agriculture again, despite efforts of city people to use community gardens, green roofs and even guerrilla gardening to grow food.
Though there are strong sprawl-busting policies in provinces such as Ontario, with its internationally renowned Greenbelt Act and Greater Golden Horseshoe Growth Plan, prime farmland and rare ecosystems in the region, like wetlands, remain at risk from further urban development.
A recent study by the David Suzuki Foundation examined threats to farmland in a 94,000-hectare patchwork of farms, forests and wetlands circling Toronto and its surrounding suburbs, called the Whitebelt Study Area. The report warns that this productive mosaic of green space and rich farmland is at risk from the blistering pace of urban expansion in the Golden Horseshoe.
Municipalities there have proposed developing more than 10,000 hectares of the Whitebelt over the next three decades. This is in addition to 52,000 hectares of land the province had already approved for development before new policies to curb urban sprawl came into effect. Together, these lands are more than twice the area of the city of Mississauga.
Paving over remaining prime farmland and natural assets like wetlands is foolhardy. Studies show that near-urban croplands and farms in the Golden Horseshoe contribute billions of dollars in revenue to local economies each year, from a cornucopia of fruits and vegetables, beef, pork, dairy and award-winning wines.
And as the Foundation report shows, near-urban farmland and green space also represents a Fort Knox of additional natural benefits that we typically take for granted: trees clean the air, wetlands filter water and rich productive farmland soils store greenhouse gases.
Today, Ontario’s towns and cities are at a crossroads. Down one path is continued low-density, creeping urban expansion. We know how this well-worn route looks: endless pavement, long commutes and traffic jams, not to mention the high social and ecological costs associated with such a wasteful form of urban design. Simply put, continued sprawl threatens the health and well-being of our communities and the ecosystems that sustain us.
In the other direction is an extraordinary new path: ending sprawl using the principles of smart growth and creating compact, higher-density communities serviced by public transit, bike paths and walking trails, and surrounded by local greenbelts of protected farmland and green space.
Our political leaders should seize this opportunity. While industry and developers will continue to pressure us to sacrifice our cultural and ecological heritage, together we much embark on a visionary path. We must protect near-urban nature and farmland and ensure the health and well-being of all Ontarians.
If we value local food and want to maintain the critical benefits that nature provides, we must put food and water first. That’s why we’re calling on municipalities and provincial governments to redouble their efforts to protect our remaining farmland and green space from costly and polluting urban sprawl.
You can join the conversation on Twitter at #FoodAndWaterFirst.
David Suzuki is a scientist, broadcaster, author and co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation. Written with contributions from David Suzuki Foundation Ontario Director Faisal Moola



-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://gren.ca/pipermail/all_gren.ca/attachments/20130221/83bc4136/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: john_overmyer.jpg.size.xxlarge.letterbox.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 49687 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://gren.ca/pipermail/all_gren.ca/attachments/20130221/83bc4136/attachment.jpg>