Voting for Fennell/McCallion Means
Voting for More Sprawl, Less Farmland

Mayors Susan Fennell and Hazel McCallion should both get a pink slip for being so out of touch with residents says a Peel environmental activist. A Toronto Star/Decima Research poll shows nearly 90% of GTA residents support the goal “of curbing urban sprawl and protecting area farmland,” yet both Mayors and their councilors voted unanimously to expand urban sprawl and bury 6,000 acres of prime farmland in North West Brampton.

If the OMB approves a settlement to allow this urban expansion, “more cars will fill more roads with more pollution. More victims of respiratory problems and stress related illnesses will stuff our overwhelmed hospitals.  Less local farmers will be producing less local food for a growing number of GTA mouths,” charges Therese Gain Taylor, the past co-chair of the Challenge to Sprawl Campaign for Sierra Club’s Ontario Chapter.

“Fennell and McCallion are ignoring taxpayers and the daily news by burying farming, sprawl and climate change issues,” says Gain Taylor.

Surprisingly, Sierra Club of Canada is also ignoring its goal of curbing sprawl and protecting farmland by settling its appeal with the City of Brampton and the Region of Peel.  This while the Star poll shows that nearly ninety percent of residents want to ensure cities in Greater Toronto “remain liveable and environmentally healthy.”

While a majority of residents support the government’s current greenbelt legislation, many who understand farming and food security issues say some of the best farmland was left out of the greenbelt.

Also the past conservation chair for Sierra Club’s Peel Region Group, Gain Taylor says “it is vital that we act now to protect our remaining precious prime farmland and to promote the viability of local farming.  It is vital now more than ever with the depletion of cheap energy sources and the climate crisis that we feed ourselves from local sources.  If our country’s largest metropolis cannot feed itself from local sources, we will be a third world country,” she predicts.

Gain Taylor was given party status for the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) hearing, which starts November 14th in Brampton Court on Ray Lawson Boulevard.  Of six parties, she is the only one who has not settled with Peel Region. She hasn’t given up on curbing sprawl and preserving precious farmland, including apple orchards and pumpkin patches enjoyed by so many city dwellers throughout the fall.

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Contact: Therese Gain Taylor, Citizens for Ethical Civic Engagement (CECE)