[GREN-Exec] Greenbelt Foundation Grant Update

[Kevin Thomason]

Hi GREN Executive,

I hope that you have been keeping well since our recent meeting in Wellesley.  It was great to see everyone in person and discuss the funding, the opportunities, and the challenges for the months and year ahead.

I completed a call yesterday with the Ontario Greenbelt Alliance Steering Committee and it seems that there is waning patience with the Ford provincial government and much to be done as Ford and his developer buddies are getting desperate in the final months of their mandate.

At our GREN Executive meeting we had discussed focussing on the Regional Official Plan and local Official Plans this autumn and then focussing on the likely Greenbelt expansion announcement in the Spring in advance of the June provincial election.  It now appears that the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing is going to announce the Greenbelt expansion to the Paris Galt Moraine in the next couple of weeks along with a month of public consultation.

This will impact our planning and potential activities as it looks like everything will be happening this autumn rather than being more spread out across the year ahead.  

I have received a cheque for GREN for $12,000 that I will get to you Greg for deposit.  Now that we have had a GREN Executive meeting with Franz for some of the OGA/provincial perspective I think that we need to have more of an internally focussed GREN Executive meeting to figure out how we are going to spend/invest the funds coming to achieve the goals that we need to succeed at.  This includes deciding how much we can do ourselves, if we hire someone specifically focussed on things, and how much we distribute to area groups.  Already the Guelph moraine group has reached out this week to see how we can work together on this pending Greenbelt expansion announcement.

They are calling for good weather next week.  I would be willing to host a meeting on my dock/lawn again or we can meet one afternoon/evening via Zoom.  Please share any ideas and what you think might work best for you.

I realize that we are all busy however decades of our efforts are at risk here if we don’t get these long-term official plans and land use decisions done properly - particularly when we have governments working against the best public interest and climate action we need.

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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