“The Greenspace Alliance today is sending a letter to each candidate registered for Ottawa’s October 27 municipal election, asking whether they support the following four propositions.
1. Support for a strong site alteration by-law, with emphasis on “strong.”
This is too long in coming, for sure. But, hey! The environment is one of those things that can easily be set aside by politicians when other issues perceived as more important are screaming for attention. It’s a creeping catastrophe! Joni Mitchell said it best: You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone. They’ve paved Paradise, put up a parking lot!
2. Renewed commitment to an annual allocation towards an environmental lands acquisition fund.
I haven’t seen much done by the city at all, in respect of major weltands acquisition, since Amalgamation. The subsequent Councils seem to have measured their achievements and legacies more in terms of development than in preservation. It seems to me that development takes care of itself. In stark contrast, our waterways and wetlands just don’t have a strong enough lobby at City Hall at present!
3. Standing firm in support of the prohibition against future country lot subdivisions.
You know, I’ve never had a problem with Our farmers severing a lot on the front concession to build their sons and heirs a house. That’s been fundamental to carrying on the grand old tradition of the Family Farm for at least the past 150 years! And no place more so than in Eastern Ontario which was one of the earliest areas settled! But no fair carving out a whole bunch of ‘estate’ lots for sale to wealthy city folks to build their country mansions on, leaving nothing but a laneway right-of-way into the farmstead. Thanks to marketing boards and such, we have a dwindling number of ever-wealthier farmers in our province. Let’s make sure that, if somebody has to ‘sell the farm’ to make ends meet, that they sell or lease some or all of their land to one of the big guys and keep it in production, rather than turning into real estate developers.
4. The City’s Advisory Committees should be genuine bridges between the public and Council.
Absolutely. Please see today’s Policy Statement on Wetlands Conservation and Management at www.duckformayorottawa.com.”