A primer on the Ontario Greenbelt Expansion
We believe more people would get behind the Greenbelt Expansion plan, particularly in Brantford and the County of Brant, if they had more information. This post builds on our other, long-form Medium article, “A Watershed Moment: Choosing Better Growth for Ontario” by laying out some additional context and definition of terms.
If you have any questions or want to learn more, we are happy to further the discussion. Leave a comment here or get in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or by email.
10 commonly used terms
- Greenbelt — A provincial designation of land outside the Golden Horseshoe that was created in 2005. It was designed to protect farmland, natural heritage and water. The Ontario government is currently in a consultation period with the public until March 7, 2018 to consider including critical water systems in the County of Brant and Brantford in the Greenbelt Expansion plan.
- Bluebelt — Areas within the Greenbelt identified by a coalition of 120 organizations, with over 500,000 members across Ontario, as critical water systems requiring protection by an expanded Greenbelt plan. Several areas in this plan have been left out of Study Area currently being considered by the government. Read more and see a map of the proposed Bluebelt.
- Growth Plan — Ontario’s strategic growth plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe around Toronto, which includes Brantford and the County of Brant; a main objective of this plan is to curb urban sprawl by encouraging developers to build more compact communities (instead of sprawling ones), within established urban settlement boundaries where there are already water and sewer services.
- Grand River Watershed — The land on which we all live on which water flows across, through, or under before draining into creeks and streams and entering the Grand River. This water becomes the source for drinking, recreation, wildlife, and agriculture.
- Moraines, headwaters, urban river valleys, and wetlands — These are the key environmental features in Brantford and the County of Brant that we are asking the Greenbelt to include in the expansion plan. Specifically, those areas include the Grand River watershed within the Greater Golden Horseshoe in Brantford and Brant County.
A moraine is an ancient area of rocks and sediment amassed by glaciers. Moraines naturally filter and clean rainwater, slowly replenishing (or recharging) aquifers deep below. The Paris/Galt moraine is included in the Greenbelt Study area, but we would like to see the study area expanded to include the whole Greenbelt watershed in Brant County and urban river valleys in Brantford and Paris.
Headwaters are where many of our bodies of water originate, from streams to temporary pools and wetlands; they are important to protect because of their significance in nurturing downstream ecosystems, regulating water flow, and more.
Urban river valleys are public floodplain area within urban boundaries and they are vulnerable to development pressure. They can be added to the Greenbelt. In May 2017, the Province added 21 urban river valleys to the Greenbelt.
Wetlands are areas where the water table sits close to the surface of the ground, providing habitats to a variety of animals, improving water quality, and mitigating floods. Read more about wetlands.
- Leapfrog development pressure — A development practice associated with urban sprawl, referring to developers and land bankers buying up mostly prime farmland just outside of the Ontario Greenbelt and pressuring local municipalities to include this land in the urban boundary to permit development.
- Land banking — The practice of buying up mostly agricultural land as an investment, holding it for future use, and lobbying the local government to rezone it for development purposes. A key local land banker is Walton Group, an international organization with the majority of shareholders in Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia.
- Sustainable Brant — A group originally formed by local farmers and community organizers in 2007 to bring together various groups concerned about the environment and land use planning. Sustainable Brant monitors Brant County Council on environmental issues. The County of Brant Council recently formed an initiative named Sustainability Brant, so there is some worry about confusing the names of the two groups.
- Better Brant — A new initiative by the Langford Conservancy is gaining traction amongst locals for including the Grand River watershed in the Greenbelt and facilitating discussion of related issues. A grant from Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation is partially funding this work. Besides publishing content on Medium, there are also social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
- Protect Our Waters — A collective of 120+ different groups with 500,000+ members working together to meaningfully expand the Greenbelt with “an ambitious, science-based plan for protecting critical water systems adjacent to the existing Greenbelt.” This group claims several important areas for maintaining these water resources, including the Grand River watershed have been left out of Study Area currently being considered by the government. Learn more at protectourwaters.ca
Timeline of key events
- 1980s — One of Canada’s earliest greenbelts is designated “permanent agriculture and other related rural uses” surrounding the city of Brantford. (Brant/Brantford Agreement, Provincial Law, Bill 120) Much of this land has since been annexed by Brantford and purchased by developers. The Provincial Greenbelt Study Area would put some of these lands on the north and east of Brantford in the Greenbelt.
- February 28, 2005 — Creation of Ontario’s Greenbelt
- January 1, 2017 — Land from Brant County officially annexed by the City of Brantford
- **** March 7, 2018 — Deadline to submit comments to the Province about the current Greenbelt expansion plan.
- June 7, 2018 — Deadline for the Provincial Election. We will be watching for how our leaders interact with this issue to inform our voting habits later in the year.
- October 22, 2018 — Municipal elections across Ontario including the County of Brant and Brantford
Further Reading
Here is some additional reading to deepen your understanding of the issues.
On housing needs
This RBC report analyzes key factors that are driving up housing prices: low interest rates and lack of mortgage rules.
On Greenbelt regulations
This report, by Wayne Caldwell and Kate Proctor, identifies 10 main issues faced by Greenbelt farmers — almost all of which are not directly related to the policies of the Ontario Greenbelt or are universal and experienced by farmers elsewhere in the province.
On the threat to farmland
The Ontario Federation of Agriculture (the largest farmer organization in Ontario) and Environmental Defence published this November 2015 risk report for the Greater Golden Horseshoe.
“The Greater Golden Horseshoe (GGH), an area that stretches from Niagara to Orillia to Peterborough, has some of the most fertile farmland in Canada. Only 21 per cent of the GGH is protected by the Greenbelt, leaving prime farmland outside the Greenbelt at risk of being paved over. The Ontario Federation of Agriculture and Environmental Defence agree on the need to protect this farmland in the face of the region’s anticipated population growth.”
What can you do?
5–15 min — Most important. If you haven’t done this already, do it now!
- Use our sample letter to write to key people. Send letters, have your child make a drawing, or send an email. The deadline for all submissions is March 7th.
3 min — Second most important
- Send a personal message to friends, family and neighbours asking if they’ve heard about what’s going on with the Greenbelt in Brantford and the County of Brant. Personal messages are often the most effective means of spreading the word in our community.
30 sec — Easiest
- The easiest action you can take is to follow along on social media with Better Brant’s Facebook account. When you see a post or an event go by, please like it, share it, and help us spread the message. We are always open to questions and discussion, so if you have questions, post away.
1 hour — How to help if you have a bit more time
- Sign up to volunteer. We often need help reaching populations who are not adept with computers through making individual phone calls, running our social media, helping at events by bringing food, sitting at tables to answer questions, or even planning events themselves. Please let us know how you’re interested in helping! Send an email to info@Lconserv.org or call 519–647–0798.
