[GREN-Exec] GREN Greenbelt Expansion and Funding Update

[Kevin Thomason]

Hi GREN Executive,

It has been a busy week as the Ford government continues it’s rampage issuing 6 new MZO’s last night alone bypassing all environmental review, public engagement and other important processes.  The provincial government has also retroactively changed laws to give Minister Clark additional new powers to prevent losing pending legal cases Ontario Nature, Environmental Defence and Ecojustice were poised to win against earlier MZO’s.

Environmental groups across the province have been trying to figure out how to respond (thankfully we have avoided all but one MZO in Waterloo Region thus far) and also how to address the Paris-Galt Moraine expansion proposed by Ford to distract from his other activities.

1) GREN was one of six partner groups included in a funding proposal from the Ontario Greenbelt Alliance (OGA) to the Greenbelt Foundation (GBF) on Monday that would provide base funding to keep the OGA alive with a part-time co-ordinator (Dr. Franz Hartmann) over the next two years.  It would also provide about $12,000/year for two years in funding to GREN to help fund our local advocacy work and OGA Steering Committee activities that I have been involved in similar to the grant we received last year for $10,000.

I sent information about this program to the GREN Executive on Monday.  The program is called "Building a Local Municipal Planning Culture to Support a Stronger and More Resilient Greenbelt" and fits well with the work that we already do here in Waterloo Region.  There is a plan for some local informational webinars that we don’t normally do and other groups are prepared to assist GREN with this as needed otherwise other activities are well within our normal activities.


2) A second proposal has been submitted to the Greenbelt Foundation just prior to today’s 5:00pm deadline.  It is called "Nurturing Greenbelt-Friendly Local Planning in the Grand River Watershed".  It is an extension of the first funding proposal that regional groups across the province are applying for and has come together extremely quickly in order to meet funding deadlines.  It looks like it could be a really interesting partnership between GREN, Hold the Line Waterloo Region, and the Ontario Greenbelt Alliance.  It has required GREN to become incorporated as a federal non-profit organization which was really easy to do online yesterday for a total of $213.80 and this registration was something that we likely should have done long ago.

This grant application is for funding for $35,000/year for two years which would focus on promoting Greenbelt-friendly planning in Waterloo Region and neighbouring municipalities.  Most importantly it would provide resources to deal with Doug Ford’s proposed expansion of the Greenbelt to Waterloo Region along the Paris-Galt moraine.  While I realize we at GREN are spread very thin, other groups such as Hold The Line Waterloo Region, the OGA, and the Guelph Protect the Moraine Alliance are able to assist and we can all work together to ensure that Waterloo Region is a leader and included - not completely forgotten/overlooked and potentially see all our years of efforts for local protections destroyed by the ongoing actions of the provincial government.

These funds have yet to be approved and there are many things to figure out yet - like what all has to be done and who is going to do it, however, we for the first time ever could have some funding to help compensate for all the time and efforts we put into things here in our Region.  We will also have the opportunity to do as much as we would like or ask for assistance from others who would share some of this funding in return for their help.  HTLWR is particularly eager to help and Dr. Franz Hartman is prepared to put in considerable time to ensure success in Waterloo Region if required.

I have attached a copy of the proposal and budget below.  I realize that this is new territory for GREN, however as other groups across the province seek similar funding (or significantly more funding as Guelph groups are seeking over $400,000 in funding with several full-time positions) to roll out these OGA programs and deal with Greenbelt opportunities, we can’t have Waterloo Region be one of the only parts of the province not included when we have traditionally been one of the leaders in environmental protection and we have the most to potentially lose by the actions of Doug Ford foisting a Greenbelt overtop of our stronger local protections.

I’m sorry not to have been able to have included you more in the writing of these proposals however it has been chaos to meet the deadlines so quickly today and on Monday.

Please share any questions or ideas.

Cheers,
Kevin.









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Kevin Thomason

1115 Cedar Grove Road
Waterloo, Ontario Canada  N2J 3Z4

Phone: (519) 888-0519
Mobile Phone/WhatsApp: (519) 240-1648
Twitter: @kthomason
E-mail: kevinthomason at mac.com

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