My question is to the Premier.

Premier, we have found that this government has forced municipalities to redraw their urban boundaries and rezone over 35,000 hectares of farmland and greenbelt land to permit sprawl—35,000 hectares in Peel, in Ottawa, in Hamilton, in Halton, in Durham, in York, and possibly Waterloo. They are all being forced to permit expensive, low-density sprawl on farmland, even though your government’s own Housing Affordability Task Force said very clearly that access to land is not the barrier that’s stopping this government and Ontario from meeting its housing target of 1.5 million homes.

Instead of recklessly paving over farmland and the greenbelt, can this government commit to a housing plan to increase density and build the homes we need in areas already zoned for development?

On Sunday, residents rallied in Waterloo and their message was clear: Approve the region of Waterloo’s official plan which they participated in, protect the countryside line and crucial wetlands, and stop the needless carve-out of the greenbelt. Citizens know that there is no need to pave over farmland for sprawl.

In fact, a recent report from the Alliance for a Liveable Ontario says that Waterloo region already has the capacity to build nearly 230,000 new housing units within the current boundary.

To that end, will this government reverse the cuts to municipalities by repealing Bill 23 and work with democratically elected municipalities instead of fighting them?