This Land is Our Land

THE GREENBELT DICHOTOMY


Artists concerned, informed and moved by the Greenbelt Legislation in Southern Ontario

The Greenbelt Legislation protects almost two million acres, making it the largest policy of it's kind in the world. In our research we predicted opposition to the legislation by developers, but we were not prepared for the resistance of farmers and growers to the law's imposed constraints on their land. In effect, telling them what they could and could not do with it.

It was in this journey that we were compelled to investigate further. We conducted research by visiting and interviewing landowners, farmers and those in the public sector. In addition, we gathered information and corresponded with many individuals and organizations; including Friends of the Greenbelt, Grape Growers of Ontario, Ontario Greenbelt Alliance and Environmental Defense. We also investigated whether the Greenbelt legislation provided protection for old growth trees, flora, migratory birds and wildlife threatened by urban sprawl.

At once hailed as the saviour by all those working to conserve and protect our natural lands, the Greenbelt legislation has become a source of frustration and anger for others. Our combined body of work challenges preconceptions and presents a diverse and compelling exploration of Ontario's Greenbelt.


Jan Yates, Michelle Teitsma, Gordon Leverton, Jefferson Campbell Cooper

Greenbelt Collective

Saturday, October 17, 2009



Cellared in Canada came about back when demand for wine was outstripping the availability of grapes locally. It was to be a stopgap to allow wineries to produce enough wine until grape production caught up. That happened, but now the pendulum has swung the other way. In 2008 Forty Tons of Ontario grapes rotted, unused, but worse, Cellared in Canada gained even more shelf space at the LCBO. How did this happen and why? It’s simple. Cheap imported grapes / bad trade laws, and a government that continues to promote the Ontario Wine industry with one hand while hurting it with the other.

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