Toronto | Traditional territories of the Huron-Wendat, the Anishnaabeg, Haudenosaunee, Chippewas and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation – Phil Pothen, Environmental Defence’s Ontario Environment Program Manager, is available to provide insight into the RCMP investigation into Greenbelt land removals.
“It’s encouraging to see that the Greenbelt investigation has been transferred to the RCMP,” said Phil Pothen, Ontario Environment Program Manager at Environmental Defence. “However, we must not wait around for a criminal process that could take years. The independent Auditor General’s report has already provided all the answers Ontarians need to conclude that the government’s only path to redemption starts with reversing the Greenbelt removals,” Pothen continued. “That’s the only way to fix an effective transfer of $8.3 billion in public value to sprawl developers that the Auditor General showed was never even meant to increase the housing supply.”
“The GTHA has already designated around four times the amount of land needed to deliver the next three decades of affordable housing. Building on the Greenbelt would only divert construction away from lower-cost housing in existing cities and towns.”
Who: Phil Pothen, Ontario Environment Program Manager
When: August 23, 2023 onwards
Where: Toronto, Ontario and available remotely
Background Information:
- There are 59,000 hectares of land designated for development in the GTHA alone, without including the 3,000 hectares removed from the Greenbelt. If some of the lands were developed at even the modest densities of Toronto’s Trinity-Bellwoods neighbourhood, only 15,000 hectares would be needed to house the population projected for the region by 2051. See more at: https://environmentaldefence.ca/the-big-sprawl-the-gtha-has-more-than-enough-land-designated-for-development/
- Ontarians know that we can build homes in cities and towns where we already have services and where public transit and walkability lead to lower costs and higher quality of life. In fact, a new public opinion poll conducted by Environics for the Alliance for a Livable Ontario shows that 83 per cent of Ontario residents want homes built within cities and towns where services exist – and not on the Greenbelt. They also do not find the Ontario government credible on the issue of land supply and housing.
- Read more in our statement: https://environmentaldefence.ca/2023/08/09/statement-on-the-auditor-generals-report-that-the-ontario-government-colluded-with-developers-to-remove-lands-from-the-greenbelt/
About ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (www.environmentaldefence.ca): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.
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For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact: Brittany Harris, bharris@environmentaldefence.ca
