Ontario’s Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs says farm communities will remain strong, despite development of protected Greenbelt land.
The province formally did away with environmental protections for 810 thousand hectares of farmland, wetland, and forest in 2022, as part of a plan to develop 1.5 million new homes across Ontario.
Despite the loss of farmland, Agriculture Minister and Huron-Bruce Progressive Conservative MPP Lisa Thompson expects farmers to continue thriving.
“We’ve been increasing our yield,” Thompson tells Country 104.9 News.
“More so, I hope people appreciate the fact that… Ontario is a net exporter of food. 70 per cent of all fruit and vegetables grown in Ontario go south.”
“Our farmers are ready to continue to meet the demand.”
While Thompson acknowledges the loss of farmland, she says creating homes is critical to filling jobs.
“Last year, we had 453 thousand people come to Ontario because they want to call this province home,” Thompson says.
“We need them, because we continue to have jobs without people.”
The Doug Ford government posted the results of public consultation on the Greenbelt development, which it indicated was largely negative.
