<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><div><div class=""><br class=""><div class=""><div class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:18.0pt" class="">Doug Ford is Seeking to Destroy Our Visionary Planning
in Waterloo Region<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p class=""> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:14.0pt" class="">Between the devastating impacts of Bill 23, opening up
the Greenbelt, and proposed changes that will gut Regional Planning and the
GRCA, Doug Ford and Minister Steve Clark threaten to end our unique success in
Waterloo Region<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal">For decades bold, visionary planning and a collaborative
barn-raising approach has made Waterloo Region unique and has led to the
globally recognized success of our vibrant communities surrounded by the most
productive farms in Canada.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">This past summer, our next 30 year Regional Official Plan
was overwhelmingly approved by area municipalities; it is the sustainable plan
we need for the future with a focus on complete 15-minute communities, housing
choice, affordability, improved transit, active transportation, ambitious
climate targets, along with strong farmland and environmental protection.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">However, Doug Ford has a different plan for Ontario. Under the guise of building more homes, he’s
forcing massive amounts of unsustainable urban sprawl on municipalities that
don’t want it or need it. Furthermore,
he’s ordering the destruction of huge tracts of irreplaceable farmland and even
parts of the Greenbelt – to the delight of many developers who had recently
started to purchase large tracts of supposedly protected Greenbelt lands.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Doug Ford is not working for you or the greater public good. Against the advice of experts, he wants to
end all regional planning, tearing apart the Region of Waterloo and the Grand
River Conservation Authority. Already
overburdened local municipalities will be left to do planning and co-ordination
of shared services such water treatment, sewage, land use planning, flood
control, and much more. At the same
time, Doug Ford is reducing development charges for developers that will result
in massive local tax increases to cover the costs of new developments.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p class="">O</o:p>ur focus in Waterloo Region has been on efficiency and
regionalizing services such as police, paramedics, public transit, and economic
development. Ford’s backwards plan
threatens to undo years of efforts and compromise the shared regional
initiatives that have been responsible for our globally leading successes such
as iON LRT Rapid Transit, our core renewal, and our unique Countryside Line
concept that protects our farms and Mennonite communities.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">It will be almost impossible to meet our climate change
goals and visionary community plans if Doug Ford forces thousands of acres of
unsustainable urban sprawl onto Waterloo Region with his plan that according to
experts, will actually build fewer homes, that are more expensive, and far less
sustainable in distant car-dependent developments.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Worse yet, Ford is eliminating public notice and public
meeting requirements, forbidding Conservation Authorities to speak up while
forcing them to sell off protected lands to developers, and ending the ability
for citizens to appeal decisions at tribunals.
He is taking away your democratic rights and giving them to a distant
Minister at Queen’s Park.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Our new 2021 to 2051 Waterloo Regional Official Plan already
is planning to build more homes, more affordably, and more sustainably than
Ford’s give away of our community and the Greenbelt to developers. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">We need our visionary Regional Official Plan to continue our
proven, successful future trajectory.
Lets not let Doug Ford destroy our success. Speak up today for the future that you would
like to see by contacting your MPP or going to <a href="http://www.holdthelinewr.org/" class="">www.holdthelinewr.org</a> to learn more and
automatically send a customizable e-mail from you to elected officials.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p class=""> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b class="">c) Bullet Point Version</b></p></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""></div></div></div></div></body></html>