On Monday January 16th, 2023, Susan Van Tijn as our Outreach Committee Chairperson, and Ruthanne, met with our local MPP Todd McCarthy and two of his assistants.  They came to the church to meet with us in response to our letter (email) writing campaign in December about Bill 23.

 

You may remember that this Bill was passed in order to open up parts of what is commonly referred to as the Greenbelt to allow for housing development.  

 

We met for about a half hour which primarily allowed us to introduce ourselves and share briefly our concerns.  Here are some of the highlights of that conversation.

 

What we expressed & shared with MPP Todd McCarthy:

 

  • We thanked him for taking the time to come to us and listen to our concerns
  • We told him that we often pray for community leaders and would continue to pray for him and the government.
  • We highlighted that our concerns with current legislation and government initiatives regarding housing centred around: 
    • preservation of agricultural land, 
    • care for environments that are more fragile and necessary for healthy ecosystems, 
    • the availability of affordable housing and NOT more single family homes that most cannot afford,
    • that the government would do better with listening to and consulting Indigenous communities.

 

We were invited to reach out to MPP McCarthy in the future regarding matters that our church community feel are important.