Dear Silo, Right now, greedy developers are gearing up for a lobbying day they’ve organized at Queen’s Park on March 20. They intend to peddle the same lies they’ve been spreading in the news lately: that Ontario’s Greenbelt is the reason housing prices are high. They say there just isn’t enough room for new houses.
In reality, there’s an enormous amount of land in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) that is already set aside for development. 104,000 hectares, to be precise. That’s larger than the cities of Mississauga and Oakville combined!
But as we’ve seen, Ontario’s development industry doesn’t let a little thing like truthful facts get in the way of their business model. They want to weaken the Greenbelt so they can pave over more prime farmland and built the kind of 1950’s sprawl that is so lucrative for them.
Let’s not allow developers to turn a profit at our environment’s expense.
With developers descending on Queen’s Park on March 20, we have to show MPPs that Ontarians support protecting and growing the Greenbelt, not paving over it.Please join me by adding your voice today.
Erin Shapero
Greenbelt Program Manager
P.S: There are some legitimate reasons that house prices are high in the GTHA. The Greenbelt isn’t one of them. Please make sure decision makers know that you expect them to protect our Greenbelt by taking action today.
According to a 2011 Swedish study couples in which one partner commutes a long way to work (more than 45 mins.) are 40% more likely to divorce than couples who don’t have to travel so far for their jobs. More: http://umu.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2:415050
Mike Schreiner, leader of the Green Party of Ontario and candidate in Guelph, wants to get you home faster and will be honest about how to do it.
“Our great grandparents invested in Niagara Falls to power our homes and businesses. Our grandparents invested in 400 series highways to move the goods we produce. Those investments have powered Ontario’s economy,” says Schreiner. “Our generation must invest in the transit infrastructure needed to move our economy forward in the 21st century.”
The average daily commute time in the GTHA is 80 minutes long. That’s the equivalent of eight 40-hour work weeks every year — or about seven years in a working lifetime. Gridlock costs us $6 billion a year and will cost more than double that by the end of the decade.
“We can fix gridlock for less than it costs,” says Tim Grant, Green Party Transportation Critic and candidate in Trinity-Spadina. “It mystifies me that the other parties promise the moon but can’t tell us where the money is coming from, as if we’re children who believe in the tooth fairy.” The Green Party is willing to say how much it will cost and where the money is going to come from. We propose a combination of province-wide and urban-focused mechanisms (including a gas tax, congestion charges, commercial parking levies, and land value capture) to produce the revenue necessary — $3 billion a year — to build and operate the public transit and transportation infrastructure we need.
“For $250 a year for each person in Ontario, we can solve a lot of problems,” says Scheriner. “We can save people months stuck in traffic. We can lower costs for businesses trying to get goods to market. We can help employees take the jobs they want because they know they can get to work.”
The Green Party is committed to bringing better transit to Ontario, and honesty, integrity, and good public policy to Queen’s Park. For the Silo, Candice Lepage.
Like a column of ants- “Today, in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, the average commute time is 82 minutes a day. Gridlock is a major issue affecting our province’s productivity.” Ontario Premier Wynne image: us.123rf.com
Where investing in transit can take us…….The first subway line in Toronto opened in 1954, the year after I was born. I still remember riding the subway with my grandmother as a little girl. I was wearing my white gloves because it was a special occasion. Everyone was so excited, so proud.
Today, in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, the average commute time is 82 minutes a day. Gridlock is a major issue affecting our province’s productivity.
This is not just an issue of commute times for people in one region. Congestion in the GTHA hurts farmers who want to move food through the region quickly, truck drivers trying to get to the US border, tourists trying to visit and countless families who want to move from one side of the city to the other, without getting stuck in endless traffic.
Fixing transportation infrastructure will improve our lifestyle and our economy. It will also have a positive impact on our tourism, our natural environment and on the health of the millions of people who call this region home.
That’s why I know we have to move forward on this conversation.
But I don’t want anyone to think that transit or the GTHA is getting unfair attention or disproportionate investment.
And so it’s important to note that for the past 20 years, transit investment in Ontario has lagged well behind the funding we have put into the province’s road network, our bridges and underpasses.
That part of our transportation puzzle has received hundreds of millions a year; and in the past nine years, billions.
In contrast, there have been several years in that time period when the provincial government’s capital expenditure on transit was exactly zero.
There is a pressing need for change. That is not up for debate.
But when I listen to the rhetoric around transportation investment, I believe some politicians have made a short-sighted decision to avoid real solutions.
I know improving our daily commute is not about scoring political points. It’s about ensuring Ontario’s success. And that is my core responsibility as the Premier of this province.
People are ready to get moving. But to develop real momentum we have to change the way we talk about these investments.
We need to bring excitement back to the discussion of transportation infrastructure, and where it can take us, our children and grandchildren.
We have to talk about what we DO want. We want every part of this province to move quickly, safely and efficiently so that we can all benefit.
When it comes down to it, transportation investments will need tens of billions of dollars over the next twenty years. Our whole provincial budget each year is about $125B.
And our spending on programs including education and health care is already tightly constrained, the lowest of any province.
We need to find dedicated revenue for these projects, because the money cannot be found elsewhere.
I believe that any new funds must be directly tied to a measurable result. People need to know what they are paying for; they need to see where the money is going.
Whether the need is for new transit in the GTHA, light-rail lines in Ottawa, bridge repairs in Kenora or highway refurbishing in Huron County, we need to get this done.
We need to get Ontario moving.
So I will keep talking about what we can achieve for this great province. I will focus on the positive impact we can make through smart, fair investment.
But I need your help. Let’s tap into the desire for a safer drives, a better commute, cleaner air, a stronger economy. I know the will is there. I know the support exists. And progress will be made.
Together we can get this done. Premier Kathleen Wynne
