Greenbelt Promise

08/28/2024

Please join the rally in Kitchener today. Farmers are being forced off what they thought was permanently protected prime farmland in Wilmot - well within Waterloo’s Countryside Line for a mega industrial complex. They have questions but nobody is providing answers. What this means is NO ONTARIO FARMLAND IS PROTECTED. Without long term security, farmers have no reason to continue to invest in, or grow their operations. The provincial government is driving this forward. Regional and township government are complicit. What happened to these people who were elected to represent their constituents’ best interests? What they clearly refuse to recognize is the economic contribution of agriculture. Farmland is productive employment land. Some of the farmers have been farming their land for five generations. They are being given very low offers based on agricultural zoning even though the land will be used for industry. Industrial land sells for millions of dollars. The motivation behind this is clearly greed. This will have devastating impacts on our food security. Ontario is losing 319 acres every day. Once it is paved over it is gone forever.
Visit the website to learn more:

https://www.fightforfarmland.com/support-resources

06/06/2024

Taking action to : Members of HeadwatersStop413 recently erected huge banners in front of the province’s signs promoting Highway 413 in Caledon near Old School Road & Highway 10.
HeadwatersStop413 members are concerned residents in the Headwaters area of the Humber, Credit, Grand, and Nottawasaga Rivers. Please share widely!

03/01/2024

🚨URGENT: Sign this action letter to request the province not approve the 9000-acre Boundary Expansion as set out in the Durham Region Official Plan.
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/protect-durhams-future-say-no-to-costly-urban-expansion-3
Background: The Durham Region Official Plan (DROP) has not yet been approved by the Province. The approval is under consideration by the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, and may take place in the very near term. The DROP includes a Land Needs Assessment that includes a Settlement Area Boundary Expansion (SABE) that will open 9000 acres of unserviced land for development. The 9000-acre SABE is not required to meet housing targets, nor will it help address housing affordability. Instead, it will lock in costly sprawl. Durham Region already has one of the highest tax rates in the GTA. Recent budget revelations include significant increases in water/sewer rates (7.4%) and property taxes (7.5%). These increases do *not* include any costs associated with the 9000 acre SABE. If the DROP with the addition of 9000 acres of land is approved, this will result in even higher taxes and place an even larger financial burden on residents who are already struggling.
It urgent to send this letter to MMAH Calandra before the DROP with the unnecessary SABE is approved.
Please sign the action letter today, and share with your network.

02/09/2024

Please join us TODAY at the Hockley Community Hall in Hockley Village for a Greenbelt Valentine’s Tea from 2-4pm, hosted by the Dufferin-Caledon Greenbelt Promise team. Mike Balkwill VP Campaigns and Engagement for the Small Change Fund will be speaking. There will be live music, tasty treats and fun activities. Everyone is welcome!
More details in the article.

01/19/2024

UPDATE: Take Action Now! Consultation ends Wed Jan 31st. Add your voice to amplify the messages sent by over 550 people!

Use our easy-to-use tool to send a message to ask the province to invest and protect the Greenbelt and take part in the consultation for Ontario’s 2024 budget - ongoing until January 31, 2024. The waterways, wetlands, farmland, forests and greenspaces of the Greenbelt play a key role in mitigating the impacts of the climate crisis. Ontario businesses, residents and municipalities are facing increased costs of hundreds of millions of dollars due to natural catastrophes and severe weather events that are increasing in frequency as the climate crisis deepens. These costs can be mitigated with smart spending and investments. The Ontario budget is not only a financial management plan, it is also an indicator of the priorities of the provincial government. Ask the Minister of Finance to commit to making the Ontario Greenbelt a priority!

https://win.newmode.net/keepthegreenbeltpromise/protectthegreenbeltontarios2024budget

12/29/2023

Make it your resolution to continue to be part of the Keep the Greenbelt Promise campaign! Please donate today to the Keep the Greenbelt Promise to receive a 2023 tax receipt and support our campaigning: https://smallchangefund.ca/project/greenbelt-forever

For those of you who have already donated, THANK YOU.

Have safe and Happy Holidays, from all of us at Keep the Greenbelt Promise!

12/22/2023

Thank you so much to all those who have shown up, in whatever way you could, to support Ontario’s Greenbelt! You have helped us prove that we can make change when we come together and use our voices.

Take care and have a safe and happy holiday season!

12/20/2023

Tell Bethlenfalvy we need full protection for the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve!

Join us Thursday at 12:30pm on Zoom for a quick webinar and phone zap! Register at https://forms.gle/b3PttgnEjn8rUYoW9

Let's demand Peter Bethlenfalvy protect the Greenbelt!

12/19/2023

The Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve (DRAP) has been left unprotected by Bill 136! Before land was removed from the Greenbelt a year ago the DRAP had 4 protections, and only 2 have been returned!

As a Globe and Mail article revealed on September 9, 2023, Susan McGovern has family ties with The Rice Group - one of the developers whose land was removed from the Greenbelt in November 2022. While McGovern served as a Board Member for the Greenbelt Foundation she did not disclose that her brother and husband ran operations at the Rice Group, and were lobbying for permission to develop on their Greenbelt land.

Tell Bethlenfalvy we need full protection for the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve!

Join us Thursday December 21 at 12:30pm on Zoom for a quick and easy action! We will be calling Peter Bethlenfalvy to tell him to dismiss Susan McGovern, and return all protections to the DRAP!

Register here: https://forms.gle/b3PttgnEjn8rUYoW9

11/30/2023

Did you know that only two of four protections in the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve (DRAP) are being returned?

Find out more about about the history of the DRAP here: https://www.stopsprawldurham.com/drap

A network of organizations working together to stop development in the Greenbelt.