There is a huge threat to Alberta's farmland and wilderness: urban sprawl. The Calgary-Edmonton corridor, a swath of land stretching about 100km between Alberta's major cities, is quickly being eroded by urban sprawl.
Every year, the city of Edmonton expands its borders into the prime farmland surrounding it and the city has no plans of slowing down. It has bids to annex lands in the surrounding Leduc county bordering on the towns of Beaumont, Leduc and Devon, eliminating 154 square km of prime farmland.
High-density land use plans are being implemented all across the country as municipalities, such as those in the Greater Golden Horseshoe of Southern Ontario, work to increase housing while limiting sprawl.
Edmonton has only given lip-service to future plans of higher density suburbs but with current annexation plans, there's no incentive to do that. The mayor, Don Iveson, needs to know that the world is watching.
Now is the time to pressure Mayor Iveson to make the right decision and put annexation plans on hold and commit to stopping urban sprawl in Edmonton through high-density land use.
Sign today to protect Alberta's prime farmland. By signing today you are sending a strong message that Canada's farmland is an important and vital resource that needs to be protected from urban sprawl.
Photo credit: By Theonlysilentbob (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
