Dear Premier Ford,
Please read the article at the attachment. It points out how important Southern Ontario’s remaining wetlands are to animals, birds and other wildlife and also how important wetlands are to us as cleaners of water and places that can absorb high rainfall that we are receiving due to climate change, causing flooding of our basements.
This statement is made in the article, “Osprey and Otter know many things that our provincial government would rather not know. One of those is that the value of a specific parcel of wetland can’t be judged in isolation. Many wetland mammals, fish and birds – even the non-migratory ones – need a complex of wetlands to stay healthy.”
Yes, wetlands exist in systems that animals and birds move back and forth between. You cannot remove part of the system and have these birds and animals continue to live. We humans are causing the largest extinction of life since the dinosaurs left us 65 million years ago. COP 15, the UN Biodiversity Conference is going on in Montreal right now. The international delegates are trying to come to grips with saving up to 30% of the Earth’s surface for nature. We must do this to survive as humans.
I am afraid that your government’s removal of the long time protections of wetlands and old growth forests by the construction of highways through natural areas, such as #413 and the Bradford Bypass as well as allowing the building of mansions on the Greenbelt, will cause the extinction of many animals that we need in order to keep our ecosystems intact.
Premier Ford, I know that you love your cottage in Muskoka due to its natural surroundings. Please extend this love to our other natural areas such as wetlands and still intact forests. We are going to need these valuable assets as our weather becomes more extreme.
Premier Ford my 12 grandchildren all live in Southern Ontario plus Ottawa. Their world will be greatly diminished and their lives even endangered by your government’s plans to remove protections from wetlands plus the removal of Conservation Authorities’ ability to advise municipalities, and protect these valuable assets.
My wife and I are also long time contributing members of the Bruce Trail Conservancy and we have hiked much of the trail between Queenston and Tobermory along our magnificent Niagara Escarpment, a UN Biosphere Reserve. The Bruce Trail Conservancy has made public statements that the loss of protections from development for natural lands and features along the escarpment may cause the end of the continuous Bruce Trail that so many Ontarians and international hikers love so much.
Please, you cannot allow the development and destruction of these lands and animals and birds that raise our spirits so much. Our grandchildren deserve to enjoy natural lands that are close by as much as we have.
Premier Ford, please listen and repeal the legislated items that are going to remove development protections from our wonderful valuable natural assets.
I am in favour of affordable housing for all, but it must be built within the boundaries of our cities and municipalities. Even your own task Force said there was no need to develop the Greenbelt.
Please listen to our biologists, geographers, watershed scientists, urban planners and your thoughtful citizens. Do not remove protections from our remaining wetlands, intact forests and other natural features in Southern Ontario. If you do this, history will be kind to you as opposed to how you will be thought of if you push on with the unnecessary development of our natural treasures. We are counting on you to do the right thing!
https://anoutsidechance.com/2022/11/30/osprey-and-otter-have-a-message-for-ford/
Murray Lumley's Blog 