Mike Schreiner unveils Green Plan for Rural Ontario at ROMA
January 21, 2025
Addressing the annual convention of the Rural Ontario Municipalities Association this morning [Jan. 20], Ontario Greens leader Mike Schreiner unveiled the party’s plan for rural Ontario.
The Green Plan for Rural Ontario will address five key challenges facing rural communities: see Ontario Greens Plan for Rural Ontario.
The plan, though, includes relevant items for cities which will benefit London!
Housing:
- Upload community housing and shelter costs to the province that had been unfairly downloaded onto municipalities by prior governments
- Streamline the process for building missing middle housing and remove barriers to developing existing buildings like abandoned plazas and warehouses
- Reinstate the brownfield remediation fund to support municipalities to safely build new homes on previously industrial sites
Agriculture & Agribusiness:
Invest in local food hubs to support local farmers, supply chains and businesses and increase provincial investment in AgTech to support innovation in the food and farming sector.
Environment:
- Reverse the government’s attack on environmental protections, wetland preservation and Conservation Authorities
- Prohibit 400 series highways in the Greenbelt and cancel Highway 413 and the Bradford Bypass
- Work with Indigenous communities to conserve and protect 30 percent of natural areas by 2030
- Expand the Greenbelt to include a Bluebelt that protects Ontario’s lakes, rivers and wetlands
Ontario Greens have a viable and comprehensive set of policies to meet the provinces challenges.
