My letter to the NCC this morning: It sounds from this article that you were in the hot seat

yesterday: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/ottawa/Landowner+backlash +causes+rethink+Greenbelt+expansion+plans/7917707/story.html Weve always maintained that expropriating land for green infrastructure is the only sensible policy to pursue. We made this clear to the NCC during the Greenbelt Master Plan consultation sessions and warned you that this approach was unworkable. We also made it clear that the omission of the SMH from the plan was an egregious oversight by the NCC. The NCCs own studies conrm that the SMH is the headwaters for the only 2 cool-water streams left in the Greenbelt and can be a valuable source for eco-recharge for the Greenbelt which is being strangled to death by development both in and around it. The City of Ottawa and Province both routinely expropriate land for black infrastructure without a peep of backlash. The NCC needs to step up and make the case for green infrastructure since the City is incapable of it. The excuse that there is no money for it simply does not wash. The City is able to nd $1 B (of which 2/3 comes from from Federal and Provincial sources) for light rail which includes several hundred $Million for land expropriation. This isnt even for a light rail plan that the NCC is aligned with. There are many other examples of the Federal and Provincial governments being able to nd funds when it wants to. Its really about the quality of leadership and the priorities that our society wants to have. The Greenbelt Master Plan should be a statement of leadership as much as it should be a plan. Without a vision, grounded in sustainable economic thinking, no funding will ever become available for it. Its not too late to do the right thing and to abandon a ctional approach to protecting the Greenbelt and to set a bolder course moving forward. With Fortitude, Paul Renaud South March Highlands Carp River Conservation Inc.