Proposed changes to Greenbelt risk ‘irreversible harm,’ Parks Canada says | 24CA News

Parks Canada has issued a stark rebuke to Ontario’s plan to open up sections of protected Greenbelt land for housing improvement, saying the transfer dangers “irreversible harm” and that correct session on the proposal has not taken place.

In a letter submitted to the provincial authorities Monday, Parks Canada listed points for consideration for the proposal to take away lands from the Greenbelt within the Greater Toronto Area, significantly on the subject of lands in and round Rouge National Urban Park.

“Should these lands be removed from the Greenbelt and developed as proposed, Parks Canada’s analysis suggests that there is a probable risk of irreversible harm to wildlife, natural ecosystems and agricultural landscapes within Rouge National Urban Park thereby reducing the viability and functionality of the park’s ecosystems and farmland,” the letter reads.

News of the letter was first printed by The Narwhal and The Toronto Star.

Parks Canada says provincially protected Greenbelt lands subsequent to Rouge Park present necessary habitat and for dozens of at-risk species, in addition to “vital ecosystem services for nature, water and agriculture,” that are important to the well being and performance of the park. 

The group says the significance of those lands is specified by a memorandum of settlement (MOA) between the province and Parks Canada, which features a part that claims Ontario should seek the advice of with Parks Canada about any adjustments proposed to the Greenbelt plan.

“It is our opinion that, to date, the province has not met the consultation requirement of this MOA as the Province has not yet reached out to discuss these matters with Parks Canada,” the letter reads.

PC House Leader Paul Calandra instructed reporters at Queen’s Park Tuesday that Parks Canada is “absolutely wrong” in its interpretation of the scenario. He stated he was a federal MP in 2015 when the Rouge National Urban Park Act was handed, and is “very familiar” with the difficulty as he helped draft it.

“We have an agenda to ensure that we build houses for the people of Ontario,” Calandra stated.

Province aiming to construct extra houses

The province’s proposal for the Greenbelt, which was launched final month, goals to construct houses on greater than a dozen tracts of land at the moment thought of protected, whereas including roughly 2,000 acres of protected land elsewhere. This is all a part of the province’s plan to construct 1.5 million houses over the following decade to alleviate Ontario’s extreme housing scarcity.

The authorities’s proposal has drawn criticism from Opposition politicians and quite a few environmental and housing advocacy teams alike, amongst others.

As lately as final yr, provincial officers stated they might not open Greenbelt lands for improvement. Premier Doug Ford reneged on that promise final month, justifying the proposal by saying the province’s housing disaster has worsened — and that it’ll grow to be extra dire now that the federal authorities has unveiled a plan to herald half 1,000,000 extra immigrants a yr.

“We have a housing crisis that we didn’t have four years ago,” Ford stated at a news convention final month. “We are going to make sure we get housing built.”

Parks Canada in search of assembly

In an announcement despatched to 24CA News in November, Victoria Podbielski, press secretary for Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark, stated the province is “acting decisively” to repair the housing provide issues.

“We are considering every possible option to get more homes built faster so more Ontarians can find a home that meets their needs and budget,” Podbielski stated.

“The proposed changes to the Greenbelt would lead to the creation of at least 50,000 new homes, while leading to an overall expansion of the Greenbelt. This is particularly important given the population growth our province is expecting over the next decade especially when taking into account the new immigration targets set out by the federal government.”

In its letter, Parks Canada additionally says it has particular issues in regards to the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve, which borders the Townline Swamp Wetland Complex discovered within the Pickering space of Rouge Park.

The group says the advanced is “arguably the most ecologically-sensitive area” within the park, and is house to dozens of federally and provincially endangered and threatened species, together with the financial institution swallow, wooden thrush, monarch butterfly and several other species of bats.

Parks Canada says it doesn’t assume the session requirement surrounding the adjustments to the lands has been met, and has requested for a gathering with the province to debate a number of issues.