The Greenbelt celebrates its fifth anniversary today with widespread support from municipal leaders, and even most developers are onside. Gone are the initial misgivings about prohibiting development on a wide swath of land from Niagara to Peterborough. Instead, there is talk of expanding the Greenbelt, including an announcement Friday that Toronto will seek to add the Humber and Don river valleys to the protected area.

Not everyone is a fan of the Greenbelt, however. The provincial Conservatives, for example, voted against the bill establishing the Greenbelt. And they continue to grumble about it.

In a speech last week to the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Convention, Conservative Leader Tim Hudak referred disparagingly to “Dalton McGuinty’s Greenbelt legislation, which I think in his mind reflects the fact that he views farms as parks across the province.”

Hudak added that the Greenbelt “cater(s) in many ways to special interests who have never operated an agricultural site” and “effectively froze more than a million acres of Ontario farmland into agricultural production yet failed to provide any economic plan whatsoever that ensures locked-in farmers have a profitable market to access.”

So would Hudak repeal the Greenbelt act if he became premier?

“I don’t believe he’s on the record saying he would or wouldn’t repeal it,” responds an aide. “He has highlighted measures that he thinks are needed to improve the current situation.” The aide was referring to a report Hudak wrote in 2008 (before he became party leader) calling on the government to “help build a sustainable and profitable market for specialty crop farmers in the Greenbelt.”

Certainly, the province needs to do what it can to ensure that farmers within the Greenbelt are able to make a living.

But it would also be nice to know for sure whether the Greenbelt will be celebrating any more anniversaries if Hudak becomes premier.