I was certainly shocked this week, when I heard that the Niagara Escarpment Commission was being relieved of it's duties as the biosphere custodian for some residential lands in Ancaster. It was apparently something that the Ministry of the Environment thought was necessary....perhaps I should have taken them for one of my little sight seeing flights over the City...perhaps their thoughts would have run a little deeper...a little longer?

Hamiltonians take the Niagara Escarpment so much for granted....we travel up and down accesses carved right through the middle of it....and unless there's an accident or construction on the accesses, we really don't pay too much attention to the beauty it bestows upon us.  The Niagara Escarpment always seems to be a bone of contention. Developers are constantly pushing their plans and desires to the Council and politicians of the day. To the developers....digging foundations into the Escarpment makes perfect sense...plus extremely profitable. As the City of Hamilton and the surrounding areas become more densely populated, the pressures on the Niagara Escarpment will only become more pronounced. It wasn't that long ago, that Premier McGinty endorsed the "Greenbelt". A beautiful green belt right across Southern Ontario. Even though much of the land that Mr. McGinty put into the Green Belt...would have still been green in 30 years from now....even if he hadn't have devised such a scheme...it was still a noble gesture. The fact of the matter was that much of the land was already very well out of the Urban Boundaries of the City of Hamilton. However, when the Greenbelt was being etched out...some very valuable farmland...namely the tender fruit area of Grimsby and St. Catherine's was preserved...forever. This land will never be built on. So, why now, do we have the Ministry of the Environment removing land from the jurisdiction of the NEC?

When I depart on my sight seeing flights over the City, the first pass I make is over the Meadowlands of Ancaster. It's a massive, very organized development and the big box stores look just like big box stores from 2000 feet above! However, as I pass over the Super Centre, I start on a 180 degree turn, that brings me out right over top of the Escarpment, the part of it which is in Ancaster out over my right wing and the Dundas Valley out over my left. As my passengers look out straight ahead over Hamilton, they are often surprised, but how small, how very small, the Niagara Escarpment really is. The part which Ancaster has been graced with, combined with the Dundas area, certainly appears to be the most lush part of the Escarpment all the way down to Grimsby! I think Brad Clark is correct in asking..."Why?"...and certainly..."Why? With no consultation or public input?

As a Realtor, I fully realize the need for development. It's the way a City continues to morph and live. Brownfields are given a new lease on life with infill developments, old neighborhoods are transformed by replacement or renewal and new homes are continuously being built. It's life in the City. However, when we look at the Niagara Escarpment, this land should forever be protected because it can never be replaced!

Shame on the politicians, who are so hesitant on breathing life into the lands around the Airport. Now, these lands have been in a perpetual holding pattern for many years. No one can seem to take the bull by the horns. Thousands of acres of land, many of which are being used for growing sod, that could effectively be converted to residential, commercial and light industrial uses. Thousands of acres of land sitting right on transportation corridors and not encroaching on a recognized "Biosphere" or the Greenbelt!!

In a Country where we do not even have "Property Rights" entrenched in the Constitution, I find it somehow strange, that our Provincial powers would find it fitting to give up control over a part of the Niagara Escarpment! This isn't just about someone having the right to cut down a tree or build a garage...this has to do about the beginning. The beginning of a process by which precedence is being set to develop into the Escarpment with free will.

The only feasible avenue of correction that I can see, if for the Feds to use their power and convert the Escarpment into Crown Lands. There is a good possibility that by this time, 10 years from now, the NEC will no longer exist. There is a good possibility that by this time, 10 years from now, prime Escarpment lands in Ancaster and Dundas will have Draft Plan of Subdivision signs firmly planted on them.

That permit for a garage, or for cutting down trees seems like such a trivial item filled with bureaucratic red tape, however, it was a protective layer that kept things relatively safe, just like an imaginary fence. Anything within that imaginary fence line required more accountability. It's similar to a farmer having a flock of sheep in a fenced pasture. The farmer has them in there for 2 reasons. One is to keep them in there, so they don't wonder off, the other is to keep the predators out, thus their sheep safe. A farmer wouldn't even think about having an agreement with the wolves allowing them to walk around on the inside of the fence with the understanding that they would stay on the parameter....and not be tempted to eat any of the sheep...mmmmm...We certainly don't have to worry about the Niagara Escarpment spreading out over our residential lands...however...we do have to worry about taking the fence down!

As usual...it's just my opinion....