For immediate release:
November 3, 2005

More people, more cars, more garbage, more air pollution
Barrett joins Environmental Commissioner call for public discussion of land use plans

Queen’s Park – “A planning regime, based on the continuous expansion of population and the growth in consumption of resources, is ultimately not sustainable.”
– E.C.O 2005 Annual report

MPP Toby Barrett echoed the sentiments of Environmental Commissioner Gord Miller’s report in the Legislature yesterday, as he pointed to the impact of more people on an already highly stressed environment.

“As Miller points out, there is a fixed amount of land in Ontario and, each year, there are more of us placing more demands on that land,” Barrett asserted. “Four to six million more people are coming to Ontario, mainly Toronto, over the next 20 years—more people, more cars, more garbage, more air pollution, more demands for water, sewer and roads, as our population skyrockets.”

Barrett went on to reiterate the Environmental Commissioner’s bottom line question of the Government approach to land use planning.

“The Environmental Commissioner raises the question: Why must population grow at this rate in parts of southern Ontario?”

Barrett continued “He cites the examples of prosperous European economies that thrive without a burgeoning population base - twenty years ago, Haldimand County in my riding had the same population that it had 100 years ago.”

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For more information please contact MPP Toby Barrett at: 519-428-0446, 416-325-8404 or 1-800-903-8629