Watch: how to save Ontario’s ‘precarious’ Greenbelt from development pressure
An all-star panel of experts offers insights about sustainable growth and how to keep Southern Ontario’s protected gem safe, even as proposals to build highways and kickstart development threaten to chip it away
The Ford government is proposing two highway projects that would cut through the Greenbelt.
Photo: Christopher Katsarov Luna / The Narwhal
Ontario’s Greenbelt is facing an uncertain moment.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the climate crisis have made the protection of natural places more important than ever, especially in sprawl-intensive southern Ontario. At the same time, the forests and farmland of the Greenbelt may be chipped away by plans to build highways and open up pockets for development.
“The Greenbelt cannot just be lines on a map,” Conservation Halton CEO Hassaan Basit said at a Thursday panel discussion hosted by The Narwhal about the future of the protected space.
“It cannot continue to be something that’s precarious… that’s chipped away.”
So how can the Greater Toronto Area grow sustainably, and how should governments be stewarding the Greenbelt to keep it safe — or even make it bigger?
Basit and two other expert panellists, former provincial planner Victor Doyle and Wildlife Conservation Society Canada president and senior scientist Justina Ray, came together with The Narwhal’s Ontario bureau for a webinar to help us find answers. Watch it below or read a Twitter play-by-play of the discussion.
Banner:
The Ford government is proposing two highway projects that would cut through the Greenbelt.
Photo: Christopher Katsarov Luna / The Narwhal
Threats to our environment are often hidden from public view.
So we’ve embarked on a little experiment at The Narwhal: letting our investigative journalists loose to file as many freedom of information requests as their hearts desire.
They’ve filed more than 300 requests this year — and unearthed a veritable mountain of government documents to share with readers across Canada.
But the reality is this kind of digging takes lots of time and no small amount of money.
As many newsrooms cut staff, The Narwhal has doubled down on hiring reporters to do hard-hitting journalism — and we do it all as an independent, non-profit news organization that doesn’t run any advertising.
Will you join the growing chorus of readers who have stepped up to hold the powerful accountable?
Threats to our environment are often hidden from public view.
So we’ve embarked on a little experiment at The Narwhal: letting our investigative journalists loose to file as many freedom of information requests as their hearts desire.
They’ve filed more than 300 requests this year — and unearthed a veritable mountain of government documents to share with readers across Canada.
But the reality is this kind of digging takes lots of time and no small amount of money.
As many newsrooms cut staff, The Narwhal has doubled down on hiring reporters to do hard-hitting journalism — and we do it all as an independent, non-profit news organization that doesn’t run any advertising.
Will you join the growing chorus of readers who have stepped up to hold the powerful accountable?
In a conference room at an oceanfront hotel in Sooke, B.C., surrounded by Hereditary Chiefs wearing regalia of white ermine headdresses, red and black button...
Investigative reporting like The Narwhal’s is now blocked on Facebook — and soon Google will do the same. One way to make sure you still get the facts? Sign up for our free newsletter.
Investigative reporting like The Narwhal’s is now blocked on Facebook — and soon Google will do the same. One way to make sure you still get the facts? Sign up for our free newsletter.
