I understand the desire of developers to make a profit by developing the greenbelt. The thing is, we haven’t been elected here to help developers make a profit. We’ve been elected to define and uphold the greater public interest. It’s our responsibility, it’s our duty, it’s our job.

It’s not our greenbelt to give away; it’s the people’s greenbelt. The people’s greenbelt plays a unique and invaluable role for the people. It provides safe, local farm foods for the people. It protects against flooding and helps filter and clean drinking water for the people. It provides natural space, cleans the air and allows the earth to breathe, for the people. It’s the people’s greenbelt. It’s not the developers’ greenbelt, not the government’s greenbelt, not the Premier’s greenbelt. It is the people’s greenbelt.

All of us bear a heavy responsibility to protect the greenbelt for the people. Once it’s gone, once it’s paved over, we’re not getting it back. Because we need to remember: No one is making any more land. We need, all of us here, to protect and preserve the people’s greenbelt for the people.