Mega rally held in Hamilton to stop development in the Greenbelt

Bill 23 - the Build More Homes Faster Act - allows development on previously protected lands with the stated aim of building more homes in the province. 

Hundreds of people took to the forecourt at Hamilton City Hall on Sunday afternoon to rally against a provincial law that aims to take 7,400 acres of land out of the Greenbelt.

Bill 23 – the Build More Homes Faster Act – allows development on previously protected lands, with the stated aim of building more homes in the province.

Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed-Ward disagrees with the bill.

“It’s really a subsidy for developers and investors and there is nothing in the bill that will guarantee that first-time homebuyers will get those savings; they won’t,” she said.

She says she believes that rallies can make a difference and get Ontario Premier Doug Ford to change his mind.

“This government has shown that if we make a good case and raise our voices that they will rethink it. I am an optimist and I hope they will see that this is not how we’re going to get more affordable housing and more supply.”

Meed-Ward was one of the politicians that were on hand for the Hands Off The Greenbelt rally that was hoping to get Ford’s attention.

Hamilton Ward 2 City Councillor Cameron Kroetsch spoke to the crowd beside fellow city councillors Maureen Wilson, Alex Wilson, Craig Cassar, Tammy Hwang, John-Paul Danko, Nrinder Nann and Mark Tadeson.