IMHO-Greenbelt

Linda's Journal: In My Humble Opinion

Do People Get What the Greenbelt Is?

My house is really close to the Greenbelt border so whenever I see 'Greenbelt' in the news, I pay attention.

This week it was Orillia making headlines. Someone tabled a motion there to write a letter requesting that the Province proceed with the scheduled Greenbelt Review. It's overdue. It's the law!

But after bringing up my favourite map and zooming in on Orillia, I realised — the city is outside the greenbelt area and not all that close to the border. (Not like me.)

The advocate pushing for support admitted that "endorsing the motion does not ask the province to include Orillia in the Greenbelt". Okay.

She had more to say:

"The Greenbelt impacts Orillia, she wrote, because the city's location "on the Lake Simcoe shoreline means regional watershed protection is directly relevant to its health and infrastructure. The Greenbelt protects two-thirds of the forests and shorelines feeding Lake Simcoe. What happens upstream matters to Orillia’s drinking water, climate resilience, and long-term growth planning."

But wait a minute. I know from researching things in my own home turf that watershed is already protected by local conservation authorities. I looked it up. Orillia would be covered by the "Lake Simcoe Protection Plan, 2009" managed by the Lake Simcoe Conservation Authority.

And I know from my own reading that Orillia is included in the provincial "Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe".

The Greenbelt Act is not a general-purpose environmental law or about climate change. It is specifically about land-use.

Look —

The purpose of Ontario's Greenbelt Act is to permanently protect vast areas of sensitive land, farmland, forests, wetlands, and watersheds in the Greater Golden Horseshoe from urban sprawl, ensuring clean water, food security, and recreational opportunities while managing growth sustainably for future generations. It establishes protected countryside, including the Niagara Escarpment and Oak Ridges Moraine, to support biodiversity, cultural heritage, rural economies, and a healthy environment.

But Orillia is not inside the borders. That suggests it wasn’t part of the urban sprawl problem. Right?

So why does Orillia need to campaign for a Greenbelt Review? Are municipalities like Orillia the ones who should push? Who should push? Orillia voted the motion down. (Dad thinks they should have signed.)

I don’t understand this motion well enough to get involved. If it’s signalling, it’s probably not meant for me. I’m going to disengage. I'll start paying attention again when the review starts.

Learner Reflections

How do you decide what deserves your energy?

When have you engaged out of pressure rather than relevance?

What would it look like to “qualify your engagement” this week?