Grey Highlands Council votes to support Schreiner’s Foodbelt Bill

November 5, 2025

MARKDALE — The Municipality of Grey Highlands Council passed a motion to support Bill 21: Protect Our Food Act, following Mike Schreiner’s delegation.

In his remarks, Schreiner stressed the urgency of protecting farmland. “Ontario’s agricultural sector contributes over $52 billion to the provincial economy and employs 875,000 Ontarians. 

Ontario farmers grow more than 200 different crops on 49,600 farms across the province.

All of that is at risk because Ontario loses 319 acres of farmland every day to urban sprawl, major highway projects, aggregate mining and other developments.

Now is the time to protect our farmland, support farmers, and grow more food right here at home.”

If passed, the Protect Our Food Act would create a Foodbelt that would permanently protect our agricultural lands from being paved over by establishing a task force of farmers, agricultural experts and land-use planners to develop recommendations for a strong Foodbelt Protection Plan. 

The resulting report would address key priorities such as reducing land speculation, improving soil health and protecting and enhancing farmland.

Following the delegation, the council passed the motion introduced by Deputy Mayor Dane Nielsen, formalizing the Municipality’s support of the bill.

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