Ways to protect Markham’s Foodbelt
Posted: January 7, 2010
Categories: Food in the News / News from Sustain Ontario
A message from Rouge Duffins Greenspace Coalition and www.protectmarkham.wordpress.com/
Dear Markham Foodbelt Supporters:
Approximately 300 Markham residents attended the December 1, 2009 Markham Council Meeting and many Emails and phone messages were sent to Markham’s elected leaders.
Thank you for helping Mayor Scarpitti and Markham Council to take the first step towards stopping sprawl and creating a Markham Foodbelt to protect our quality of life and our foodlands north of Major Mackenzie Drive.
The recent full page Advertisement in the Markham Economist and Sun shows that developers are pushing back (see below). Apparently, developer representatives have been meeting with your elected officials to promote continued paving of Markham’s disappearing foodland.
To counter-act developer pressure and protect Markham’s Foodbelt within the Greenbelt, we need to attend the January 12, 2009 meeting and step-up our individual and collective communication with our elected leaders, particularly:
a) Markham Mayor and Council    fscarpitti@markham.ca
b) Premier Dalton McGuinty        dmcguinty.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org
c) Hon. Jim Watson, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing           jwatson.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org
d) Hon. Leona Dombrowsky,  Minister of Agriculture and Food              ldombrowsky.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org
e) Hon. Donna Cansfield  Minister of Natural Resources dcansfield.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org
Attached please find a map of the proposed Markham Foodbelt which you can attach to your Email.
Sample Message:
Dear Premier, Provincial Ministers and Markham Mayor and Council:
Please protect our quality of life and irreplaceable foodland by expanding the Greenbelt to create a Markham Foodbelt
on the currently non-protected lands between Major Mackenzie Drive and the Oak Ridges Moraine in Markham.
Sincerely, Name Address, Email
Information Update:
In December 2009, York Region:
1) Approved its Official Plan Update which targets 50% growth in Markham;
2) At the request of Mayor Scarpitti and Markham’s Regional Councillors, York Region removed the development asterisks north of Major Mackenzie.
The removal of the development asterisks represents a small but symbolic acknowledgment of “Markham Foodbelt” alternative.
Markham Council and the Province will now have to decide whether to support York Region’s unsustainable Growth Plan or listen to Markham residents and protect Markham’s Foodbelt and Quality of Life.
Councillors Shapero, Councillor Burke and I have met with MPPs Dr. Jaczek (Markham Oak Ridges) and Michael Chan (Markham Unionville) and they have offered initial support for the “Markham Foodbelt”.
Next Steps:
1) Please talk with your neighbors and communicate through your phone and Email contacts
Grow community awareness, support and involvement to protect the lands north of Major Mackenzie Drive by creating a
“Markham Foodbelt” by “Growing the Greenbelt”.
2) We Need to Fill the Council Chambers at Upcoming Meetings about Foodland Protection
a) Tuesday January 12, 2009   7pm   Markham Council Chambers
b) Tuesday March 2, 2009       7pm   Markham Council Chambers (tentative replacement date for rescheduled January 26, 2010 Meeting)
3) Be Prepared for Developer Push-back and Misinformation Campaigns – Spread the Word
Developer, Sylvio Degasperis and his lawyer attended the December 1, 2009, Markham Council Meeting.  Mr. Degasperis’ lawyer said that Markham residents had to accept paving of Markham’s Foodbelt or accept hundreds of high rise apartments.  The public saw through this self-serving fear-mongering and showed its disapproval.  We know there are other alternatives, including slow careful growth.
Recently, a full page Advertisement appeared in the Markham Economist and Sun (approximately $2500 to $3000).  With professional graphics and wording, it repeated the theme projected by the developers’ lawyers at the December 1, 2009 Council meeting.  The Advertisement does not say it was placed a Sylvio Degasperis development company TACC. The advertisement gives the address and phone number of Tom Farrar, President of the Box Grove Ratepayers Association.
During the successful fight to create the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve in Pickering and the Greenbelt, some major developers, like Sylvio Degasperis,
helped fund so-called “community” groups to put forward developer-advantageous viewpoints.  It looks like the same tactics are being employed in Markham.
The Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve was added to the Greenbelt despite the questionable developer tactics.
Citizen power can get the Markham Foodbelt added to the Greenbelt, if we work to get hundreds of our friends and neighbors to attend meetings, send Emails and speak-out.