By David Clements/Special to 91原创 Advance Times
Among the issues we are currently facing here in 91原创 and across Canada, the housing crisis is close to the top of the list.
In our area on the West Coast, governments are scrambling to find ways to build more houses faster.
Increased housing inevitably puts pressure on ways of preserving Canadian green space, such as the Agricultural Land Reserve in B.C. and the greenbelt in Ontario.
I was greatly dismayed to hear earlier this year that the Ford government in Ontario was allowing houses to be built on 3,000 hectares of land designated as greenbelt in Ontario.
So were large numbers of Ontario voters, including many who participated in a public consultation process last year.
In the Ford government鈥檚 own words, during the 30-day consultation, there was 鈥渆xtensive negative feedback from citizens, municipalities, conservation authorities, environmental organizations, agricultural groups, and Indigenous communities.鈥�
Still through the summer of 2023, the plan to build 50,000 homes on the Ontario greenbelt persisted, as the Ford government stubbornly stuck to a loophole created in December 2022.
And yet鈥�
On Sept. 21, Premier Ford made an announcement containing words and phrases one almost never hears from a politician like: 鈥淚 broke that promise,鈥� 鈥淚鈥檓 very, very sorry,鈥� 鈥淚t was a mistake,鈥� and [it was] 鈥渨rong.鈥�
And most importantly, 鈥淚鈥檒l be reversing the changes we made.鈥�
This past summer on a conference field trip I got to see parts of the Ontario greenbelt, including the Cedar Haven Eco-Centre.
The Eco-Centre is run by A Rocha Canada, a Christian conservation organization.
The tour was led by a long-time colleague of mine, Pete Scholtens.
Pete and I were part of the original board that formed A Rocha Canada in the 1990s.
Scholtens declared at one point on our tour, that even though this farm was not the most productive agriculturally, if he ever owned his own farm, he would love to own this one.
Indeed, although part of the 95 acres at Cedar Haven is still farmed, grasslands and meadows, Carolinian forest and cedar swamp wetlands create a diverse landscape, home to a diverse flora and fauna that I was scrambling to capture via my camera lens.
Hundreds of children flock there for educational programs along with many adults, to learn about the inner workings of nature and enjoy the peaceful surroundings.
Pete and his family get to spend a lot of time at Cedar Haven via their involvement with A Rocha.
So even without owning the farm, it is available for Pete and others to enjoy.
The housing crisis is very real but places like Cedar Haven in Ontario 鈥� and similar places here locally 鈥� must be preserved, even if it requires a little greenbelt tightening.
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鈥� David Clements PhD, is a professor of biology and environmental studies at Trinity Western University
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