<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><div><div class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><div class="post-info-container" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(38, 50, 56); font-family: Lato;"><div class="post-info" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;"><h1 class="post-title" style="padding: 0px 0px 15px; margin: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 35px; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 0.075em; font-weight: 300; line-height: 38px;">PROVINCE’S PLAN TO EXPAND GREENBELT PROTECTION TO VULNERABLE WATER SYSTEMS APPLAUDED BUT BIGGER AREA NEEDED</h1></div><div class="date" style="padding: 0px 50px 0px 0px; margin: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; float: left;"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" class="" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;"><tbody class="" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;"><tr class="" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;"><td valign="top" class="" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="date-month" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 22px; letter-spacing: 0.075em; font-weight: 700; line-height: 14px; text-transform: uppercase;">DEC</span><br class="" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="date-day" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 34px; letter-spacing: 0.05em; font-weight: 700; line-height: 35px;">07</span><br class="" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="date-year" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.075em; line-height: 14px;">2017</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="clear-float" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both;"></div><p class="" style="padding: 0px 0px 10px; margin: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 20px; line-height: 30px; letter-spacing: 0.05em;"> </p></div><div class="post-content" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; max-width: 900px; font-family: Lato;"><div class="social-sharing ss-social-sharing" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; width: 860px; clear: both;"><a rel="external nofollow" class="ext-link ss-button-facebook" href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fenvironmentaldefence.ca%2F2017%2F12%2F07%2Fprovinces-plan-expand-greenbelt-protection-vulnerable-water-systems-applauded-bigger-area-needed%2F" title="" data-wpel-target="_blank" style="padding: 0px; margin: 8.59375px 8.59375px 8.59375px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(245, 157, 42); font-weight: 700; text-indent: -99999px; background-image: url(https://environmentaldefence.ca/wp-content/plugins/wp-social-sharing/static/socialshare.png); width: 45px; height: 45px; border: 0px; display: inline-block; 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margin: 8.59375px 8.59375px 8.59375px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(245, 157, 42); font-weight: 700; text-indent: -99999px; background-image: url(https://environmentaldefence.ca/wp-content/plugins/wp-social-sharing/static/socialshare.png); width: 45px; height: 45px; border: 0px; display: inline-block; background-position: -135px -45px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Share on Linkedin</a><a rel="external nofollow" class="ext-link ss-button-pinterest" href="http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fenvironmentaldefence.ca%2F2017%2F12%2F07%2Fprovinces-plan-expand-greenbelt-protection-vulnerable-water-systems-applauded-bigger-area-needed%2F&media=https%3A%2F%2Fenvironmentaldefence.ca%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fwp-social-sharing%2Fstatic%2Fblank.jpg&description=Province%E2%80%99s+plan+to+expand+Greenbelt+protection+to+vulnerable+water+systems+applauded+but+bigger+area+needed" title="" data-wpel-target="_blank" style="padding: 0px; margin: 8.59375px 8.59375px 8.59375px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(245, 157, 42); font-weight: 700; text-indent: -99999px; background-image: url(https://environmentaldefence.ca/wp-content/plugins/wp-social-sharing/static/socialshare.png); width: 45px; height: 45px; border: 0px; display: inline-block; background-position: -180px -45px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Share on Pinterest</a></div><div class="" style="padding: 0px 0px 10px; margin: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(38, 50, 56); font-size: 20px; line-height: 30px; letter-spacing: 0.05em;">For immediate release: December 7, 2017</div><div class="" style="padding: 0px 0px 10px; margin: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(38, 50, 56); font-size: 20px; line-height: 30px; letter-spacing: 0.05em;"><strong class="" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;">Province’s plan to expand Greenbelt protection to vulnerable water systems applauded but bigger area needed</strong></div><div class="" style="padding: 0px 0px 10px; margin: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(38, 50, 56); font-size: 20px; line-height: 30px; letter-spacing: 0.05em;">Toronto, ON – In response to today’s provincial <a href="https://news.ontario.ca/mma/en/2017/12/ontario-consulting-on-greenbelt-expansion.html" rel="external nofollow" title="" class="ext-link" data-wpel-target="_blank" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(245, 157, 42); font-weight: 700;">announcement</a>, over 120 groups are calling on the government to establish a 1.5 million acre “<a href="https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/growourgreenbelt/pages/57/attachments/original/1477684178/GrowOurGB-Bluebelt-Map-October2016.jpg?1477684178" rel="external nofollow" title="" class="ext-link" data-wpel-target="_blank" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(245, 157, 42); font-weight: 700;">bluebelt</a>” in the Greater Golden Horseshoe (GGH) region to permanently protect water sources. The government’s map is missing key areas that are urgently needed for the over 1.25 million residents, farms and businesses who access drinking water directly from the region’s groundwater and rivers. These areas also flow to the Great Lakes where millions more get their drinking water.</div><div class="" style="padding: 0px 0px 10px; margin: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(38, 50, 56); font-size: 20px; line-height: 30px; letter-spacing: 0.05em;">“Four million more people will call this region home in the next 25 years, so now is the time to secure future water supplies,” said Tim Gray of Environmental Defence. “Features like moraines, wetlands and headwaters that filter and store water must be off limits to development. We need expansive protective measures to safeguard our water supplies for generations to come.”</div><div class="" style="padding: 0px 0px 10px; margin: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(38, 50, 56); font-size: 20px; line-height: 30px; letter-spacing: 0.05em;">With a changing climate, the pressure on our water reserves, farmland and green spaces is even more intense. “Water connects us all,” said Margaret Prophet of the Simcoe County Greenbelt Coalition. “It is more important than regional politics and geography. There are Simcoe residents who already are experiencing dried-up wells, water restrictions, water bans, and substandard water quality and boil water advisories. We need action now.”</div><div class="" style="padding: 0px 0px 10px; margin: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(38, 50, 56); font-size: 20px; line-height: 30px; letter-spacing: 0.05em;">One of the threats to water systems is urbanization. The new provincial Growth Plan directs more growth to existing urban areas, but only the Greenbelt Plan provides permanent protection to secure water supplies long term.”Expanding the Greenbelt to protect hydrologically significant lands located outside of urban boundaries will not affect housing supply,” said Jennifer Keesmaat, former Chief Planner and Executive Director for City of Toronto. “If these lands are protected from development under an expanded Greenbelt Plan, there are no changes required to how landowners currently use the land.”</div><div class="" style="padding: 0px 0px 10px; margin: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(38, 50, 56); font-size: 20px; line-height: 30px; letter-spacing: 0.05em;">The good news: the province’s consultation document identifies seven areas in the study including water systems flowing off the Niagara Escarpment into Simcoe and Dufferin County, the Oro Moraine, Orangeville Moraine, and the Paris Galt Moraine.</div><div class="" style="padding: 0px 0px 10px; margin: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(38, 50, 56); font-size: 20px; line-height: 30px; letter-spacing: 0.05em;">What’s needed: the map encompasses sensitive watersheds in Simcoe County but omits areas in Wellington County and key watersheds in the east, such as the Iroquois Plain along the south shore of Lake Ontario and the headwaters of Carruthers Creek.</div><div class="" style="padding: 0px 0px 10px; margin: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(38, 50, 56); font-size: 20px; line-height: 30px; letter-spacing: 0.05em;">“We need the province to expand the Greenbelt’s protection to sensitive areas like the Iroquois Plain, Wellington County and the headwaters of Carruthers Creek,” Gray continued. “That’s why we are urging Ontarians to participate in the three month consultation and to tell the government to create a 1.5 million acre bluebelt before it’s too late.”</div><div class="" style="padding: 0px 0px 10px; margin: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(38, 50, 56); font-size: 20px; line-height: 30px; letter-spacing: 0.05em;">The #<a href="http://www.protectourwaters.ca/" rel="external nofollow" title="" class="ext-link" data-wpel-target="_blank" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(245, 157, 42); font-weight: 700;">ProtectOurWater</a> initiative is a collaboration between organizations and associations representing more than <a href="http://www.protectourwaters.ca/partners" rel="external nofollow" title="" class="ext-link" data-wpel-target="_blank" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(245, 157, 42); font-weight: 700;">120 groups, and 300,000 members</a> across Ontario.</div><div class="" style="padding: 0px 0px 10px; margin: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(38, 50, 56); font-size: 20px; line-height: 30px; letter-spacing: 0.05em;">-30-</div><div class="" style="padding: 0px 0px 10px; margin: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(38, 50, 56); font-size: 20px; line-height: 30px; letter-spacing: 0.05em;">For more information, please see this <a href="https://environmentaldefence.ca/report/report-media-backgrounder-grow-the-greenbelt/" class="" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(245, 157, 42); font-weight: 700;">backgrounder</a>.</div><div class="" style="padding: 0px 0px 10px; margin: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(38, 50, 56); font-size: 20px; line-height: 30px; letter-spacing: 0.05em;">To arrange an interview, please contact: Stephanie Kohls, Environmental Defence, <a href="mailto:skohls@environmentaldefence.ca" class="">skohls@environmentaldefence.ca</a>, 416-323-9521 ext. 232 (work), 416-885-7847 (cell)</div></div></div><div class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div class="">--------------------------------------</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">NEWS RELEASE</div><div class="">December 7, 2017 10:00am</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><div class=""><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;" class="">The Ministry of Municipal Affairs is undertaking a consultation on a study area for potential Greenbelt expansion to protect important water resources in the outer ring of the Greater Golden Horseshoe. The study area is based on the locations with high concentrations of water resources that are under pressure from urban development.</span></div><div class=""> </div><div class=""><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;" class="">The purpose of this consultation is to seek input on:</span></div><ul class=""><li class=""><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;" class="">The province’s approach to identifying moraines, coldwater streams and wetlands as important features for protecting water in the outer ring</span></li><li class=""><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;" class="">The process followed for mapping a study area based on the locations of these features </span></li><li class=""><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;" class="">Other factors to be considered when mapping a proposed Greenbelt boundary.</span></li></ul><div class=""><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;" class="">As part of the consultation, the province would also like to invite you to attend a public open house. The province will be holding the public open houses in several locations across the study area to get input from the public, municipalities, conservation authorities, Indigenous communities and organizations, and stakeholders.</span></div><div class=""> </div><div class=""><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;" class="">For more information about the consultation, please visit <b class=""><a href="Ontario.ca/greenbelt" class="">Ontario.ca/greenbelt</a></b> where you will find: </span></div><ul class=""><li class=""><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;" class="">A consultation document which describes this proposal in more detail and includes discussion questions related to each of these topics</span></li><li class=""><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;" class="">Maps of the study area</span></li><li class=""><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;" class="">Information about the upcoming public open houses. </span></li></ul><div class=""><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;" class="">We will accept input and feedback about the study area and the parameters for potential Greenbelt expansion until March 7, 2018. Input received through this consultation will help inform decisions on how to move from a study area to a proposed Greenbelt boundary. </span></div><div class=""> </div><div class=""><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;" class="">If you have any questions about the consultation or the upcoming public open houses, please contact us by sending an email to <a href="mailto:protectingwater@ontario.ca" class="">protectingwater@ontario.ca</a> or calling 1-877-711-8208.</span></div><div class=""> </div><div class=""><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;" class="">We hope you will take the time to review the consultation document and share your opinions and insights with us. </span></div><div class=""> </div><div class=""><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;" class="">Sincerely,</span></div><div class=""> </div><div class=""> </div><div class=""><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;" class="">Bill Mauro</span></div><div class=""><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;" class="">Minister</span></div><div class=""> </div></div><div class="">-------------------------------------</div><div class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div class=""></div></div></body></html>