<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class=""><div class=""><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"><div id="div2831" containergroup="true" cid="1" pcid="2831_2434" loaded="true" class="flexV override detail" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: 'Open Sans'; width: 711px; float: left; visibility: visible;"><div id="div1789" class="youmightbeinterested-matrix1 act" contenturl="/pagecontainer/1789/?mode=desktop&pskey=4689519800604047505283730" cid="80" pcid="1789_1550" primary="false" lpos="youmightbeinterested-matrix1" loaded="true" done="div1789" style="box-sizing: border-box; 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border-bottom-style: none;" class=""><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; height: 100px; position: relative; text-align: center; line-height: 0; font-size: 0px;" class=""></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 6px 0px 0px; font-size: 17px; line-height: 20px; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: 'UniversLTStd Cn', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class=""><category style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(197, 42, 44); padding: 3px 5px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 14px; text-transform: uppercase; text-align: center; color: rgb(255, 255, 255); letter-spacing: 1px; display: inline-block; font-family: UniversLTStd59UltraCondensed, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 8px;" class="">LOCAL</category></div><h4 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; font-stretch: condensed; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'UniversLTStd Cn', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;" class="">Highway 85 closed at Victoria Street this weekend...</h4></div></a></div></div></div></div><div id="div1786" class="asset-body-part2" loaded="true" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; font-family: 'Open Sans'; width: 711px; float: left;"><div article="" page="" text="" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); overflow: hidden; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;" class=""><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; padding: 0px; font-family: 'UniversLTStd Cn', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.3em; font-size: 1.1em; clear: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">"We have a much stronger policy toward groundwater because 85 per cent of our water supply is from groundwater, which isn't the case for a lot of the greenbelt who draw a lot of their water from the Great Lakes." </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; padding: 0px; font-family: 'UniversLTStd Cn', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.3em; font-size: 1.1em; clear: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">On Thursday night, the province held its sixth and final public consultation at the Tannery Event Centre in Kitchener. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; padding: 0px; font-family: 'UniversLTStd Cn', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.3em; font-size: 1.1em; clear: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">The drop-in events have also taken place in Barrie, Brantford, Guelph, Alliston and Orangeville, drawing between 200 and 300 people per event. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; padding: 0px; font-family: 'UniversLTStd Cn', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.3em; font-size: 1.1em; clear: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">Kitchener Centre MPP Daiene Vernile attended and said she is aware of the region's concerns with greenbelt expansion.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; padding: 0px; font-family: 'UniversLTStd Cn', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.3em; font-size: 1.1em; clear: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">"We know that Waterloo Region has been a leader in the province in terms of managing and protecting its water resources," she said. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; padding: 0px; font-family: 'UniversLTStd Cn', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.3em; font-size: 1.1em; clear: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">"We can always build a more robust water protection system, but nothing's decided at this point. We're just hearing what people think and ... going back to the drawing board (to) come up with a plan that's going to work for Ontario."</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; padding: 0px; font-family: 'UniversLTStd Cn', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.3em; font-size: 1.1em; clear: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">The 90-day consultation period ends on March 7, and then the province will review all of the input, refine its study and then continue with more public consultation. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; padding: 0px; font-family: 'UniversLTStd Cn', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.3em; font-size: 1.1em; clear: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">The Greenbelt Plan is meant to work with the provincial Growth Plan, which helps direct the locations of growth and urban development. It's estimated the population of the municipalities in the outer ring of the Greater Golden Horseshoe will grow to 3.35 million in 2041, from the 2.29 million who were in the area in 2016. </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.1em; padding: 0px; font-family: 'UniversLTStd Cn', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.3em; font-size: 1.1em; clear: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class=""><i style="box-sizing: border-box;" class=""></i></p><i style="box-sizing: border-box;" class=""><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class=""><a href="mailto:lbooth@therecord.com" class="">lbooth@therecord.com</a>, Twitter: @BoothRecord</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class=""><br class=""></div></i></div></div></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"><br class="">-------------------------------------<br class=""><br class="">Kevin Thomason<br class=""><br class="">1115 Cedar Grove Road<br class="">Waterloo, Ontario Canada N2J 3Z4<br class=""><br class="">Phone: (519) 888-0519<br class="">Mobile Phone: (519) 240-1648<br class="">Twitter: @kthomason<br class="">E-mail: <a href="mailto:kevinthomason@mac.com" class="">kevinthomason@mac.com</a><br class=""><br class="">-----------------------------------------</div>
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<br class=""><div><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On Feb 13, 2018, at 4:49 PM, Kevin Thomason <<a href="mailto:kevinthomason@mac.com" class="">kevinthomason@mac.com</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=""><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8" class=""><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class="">Hi GREN Folks,<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">The province has announced the dates and started the consultations
on the Provincial Greenbelt Expansion proposal.
Attendance at the first Open House events in Barrie and Guelph have been really strong as people speak up
with their support for this long-awaited opportunity for a significant
Greenbelt expansion to our essential Moraine groundwater recharge areas along with
other important natural areas facing development pressures.</div><div class=""><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">The details are as follows:</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><b class="">What: </b>Protecting Water for Future Generations – Growing the
Greenbelt in the Outer Ring Public Consultations</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><b class="">Date: </b>Thursday, February 22, 2018</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span lang="EN-US" class=""><b class="">Time:</b> 5:30pm to 8:00pm<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span lang="EN-US" class=""><b class="">Location</b>: Communitech, Main Cafeteria<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span lang="EN-US" class=""><b class="">Address:</b> 151 Charles Street West, downtown Kitchener<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">It is very important that we have as many people as possible attend
this Open House and talk with staff from numerous provincial ministries
firsthand. It is an informal drop-in
format with colourful easy-to-follow information boards and lots of opportunity
for discussion and feedback.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span lang="EN-US" class="">The provincial government isn’t going to know how much we need Greenbelt
expansion to protect the Waterloo Moraine, the Paris-Moraine, and to reinforce
our local protections like the Countryside Line and our Protected Countryside
if nobody shows up next Thursday evening. We also don’t want the Waterloo region provincial Open House to have the lowest attendance when we have lead
with so many environmental initiatives and we are facing some of the highest growth pressures as well as rates of growth in the province. <o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span lang="EN-US" class="">Please plan to attend – even if you can drop by for only a few
minutes. We haven’t had a GREN meeting this month so that we can focus on this Greenbelt expansion opportunity and so that you will have an available evening to attend. Bring your family, some
friends/colleagues and ensure that they speak up too. There is lots of parking around the venue and
it is on several major transit routes too.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span lang="EN-US" class="">If you are unable to attend the Provincial Open House on February 22<sup class="">nd</sup>
please be sure to e-mail, phone, or write the province to show your support at:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span lang="EN-US" class=""><a href="http://www.protectourwaters.ca/" class="">www.protectourwaters.ca</a>
or <a href="http://www.ontario.ca/greenbelt" class="">www.ontario.ca/greenbelt</a></span> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span lang="EN-US" class="">John Jackson will be in touch more regarding a GREN meeting in March, however we want to focus on this Greenbelt expansion proposal, the provincial Open Houses, and the submission deadline of March 7th first.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span lang="EN-US" class="">Cheers,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt">Kevin.</p><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">--------------------------------</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Suggestions for your comments, letters, and submissions:</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Talk about the importance of:</div><div class="">- Protecting our crucial supply of groundwater</div><div class="">- Protecting farming and supporting farmers and the importance of local food</div><div class="">- Preserving our most beautiful and unique natural areas for future generations</div><div class="">- Supporting and reinforcing our local protections and our Regional Official Plan that directs growth to core areas - growing up instead of out</div><div class="">- Ensuring that the lands we’re already protecting with local rules will continue to be protected in the future</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">-------------------------------</div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span id="cid:123B9B09-D306-405A-B700-D8EC8936D78F"><Proposed Greenbelt Expansion Study Area - Streams and Water Map.png></span> </p><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">-------------------------------</div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span lang="EN-US" class=""><a href="https://www.therecord.com/news-story/8129956-public-forum-explores-possible-expansion-of-greenbelt-into-waterloo-region/" class="">https://www.therecord.com/news-story/8129956-public-forum-explores-possible-expansion-of-greenbelt-into-waterloo-region/</a><o:p class=""></o:p></span></p>
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<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;" class=""><br class="">-------------------------------------<br class=""><br class="">Kevin Thomason<br class=""><br class="">1115 Cedar Grove Road<br class="">Waterloo, Ontario Canada N2J 3Z4<br class=""><br class="">Phone: (519) 888-0519<br class="">Mobile Phone: (519) 240-1648<br class="">Twitter: @kthomason<br class="">E-mail: <a href="mailto:kevinthomason@mac.com" class="">kevinthomason@mac.com</a><br class=""><br class="">-----------------------------------------</div>
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