Defend the Environment, Save the Greenbelt, and Protect our Water: Stop Bill 66

22,444 actions

goal: 30,000

URGENT: The government’s Bill 66 consultation closes midnight on Sunday. Sending in messages could make the difference between whether or not Ontario guts environmental protections that keep our drinking water safe, harmful pollutants out of lakes, and industrial sprawl out of the Greenbelt. There's no time to waste. Send your message now.

Bill 66 is a massive corporate giveaway that puts our land, air, water at risk. If passed it will let big money developers and cashed-up corporations ignore the current environmental laws — and dump, drill and build wherever they want -- no matter the environmental cost.

Here are just a few things at risk:

Clean drinking water. Bill 66 would let corporations ignore protections like the Clean Water Act -- which was put in place after the tragedy in Walkerton where seven people died and thousands made sick from E. coli poisoning. The bill puts real lives in danger with the threat of drinking water contamination.
Ontario’s Greenbelt. Those 2 million acres of tranquil, protected nature — that grow our food, provide habitat for endangered species, and hiking trails for nature walks — would be opened up for major industrial development and urban sprawl. Think giant factories spewing out industrial toxins, and mega-subdivisions where lush forests used to flourish.
The Great Lakes — which house one fifth of the world’s freshwater and supply Ontarians with 80% of our drinking water, would be threatened with harmful pollutants, toxic chemicals, and greater wetlands loss, making them less swimmable, drinkable, and fishable.

The Ontario government is collecting public feedback on Bill 66 until January 20, to help them decide how to move forward. Will you take a few minutes to send a message calling on government decision-makers to protect our land, air and water and scrap Bill 66 before it's too late?

Send a message to the Ontario government's consultation on Bill 66. You can either send what's already in there or customize your own message.

Subject

To Mr. Michael Helfinger (and others),

Please consider this email as part of the government consultations on Bill 66. I’m writing to voice my strong opposition to this legislation, which would rollback decades worth of good, safe, and common-sense environmental protections in Ontario.

Letting big business ignore rules outlined in the Clean Water Act, the Great Lakes Protection Act and the Toxics Reduction Act, as well as open up the Greenbelt for development, poses a threat to our land, water, and air.

The Clean Water Act was put in place after the tragedy in Walkerton Ontario where seven people died from e-coli poisoning -- and people there are still feeling its effects. Safe water is critical to public health; we cannot risk another tragedy.

The Greenbelt protects Ontario farmland, forests, and nature. It provides habitat for wildlife and productive farmland that supports rural jobs, and a strong agricultural business sector. Ontarians do not want the Greenbelt open for development.

80% of Ontarians get our drinking water from the Great Lakes. Bill 66 threatens the health of the Great Lakes by opening them up to greater development.

The Ontario government under Ford promised to protect the Greenbelt. The recently released “Made in Ontario” Environment Plan also makes commitments that would be impossible if Bill 66 becomes law.

There is sound data that shows how business, growth, and development do not need to come at the expense of our drinking water, our clean air, or our protected nature areas.

Please do the right thing and advise the Ministers responsible to reverse the profound environmental rollbacks proposed in Bill 66.

Sincerely,

Send to

Government consultation on Bill 66
cc Minister of the Environment, and your MPP
your local representative

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Defend the Environment, Save the Greenbelt, and Protect our Water: Stop Bill 66

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