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Tag: Doug Ford

Ford To Reverse Course On Greenbelt, Said He Broke A Promise

Photo Credit: The Environment Journal/Fair Trading

With the resignation of two Ministers, a possible RCMP criminal investigation and many skeletons waiting to come out of the closet, Premier Doug Ford today did what the public has been telling him to do from the beginning, reverse the Greenbelt “land swap” and build elsewhere.

At a press conference just down the QEW in Niagara Falls he said he was “very sorry” and that he was acting in “the best of intentions”. He stated:

“I made a promise to you that I wouldn’t touch the Greenbelt. I broke that promise. And for that, I’m very, very sorry. I pride myself on keeping our promises. It was a mistake to open the Greenbelt. It was a mistake to establish a process that moves too fast”

For someone who was defiant right up to recent days over the Greenbelt changes, to surrender as he has, shows that it likely feeling more than the public heat over the matter. The big question is whether the RCMP will buy this or will they move forward to investigate if there was any criminality in the matter. One way or another, there needs to be an independent inquiry into what really happened.

While this may close the book for many in the public on the scandal, there are still many tall-tales to be told… so watch out for the next post.

Ottawa Planning Staff Analyze Bill 23: Local Impacts Are Grim

When “Dozer Doug” Ford decided to drop Bill 23 aka “More Homes Built Faster Act” on October 25th, a day after the municipal election, planning staff in many municipalities scrambled to analyze what this bill would mean. We know it will line the pockets of Ford’s developer friends, but how will it impact municipalities… and ultimately the taxpayers that fund them.

The Planning Staff in Ottawa scoured over the document and looked at what the changes would mean for the City and prepared a report for the consideration of their Council. Their findings paint a grim picture of the local impacts that the Bill will have upon their city, and by extension, other municipalities.

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The $10 Million Waterfront Gamble: 502 Winston, Part 2 – The Path To Paradise?

We are back and picking up where we left-off in August on the proposed agricultural “re-designation” of the Greenbelt waterfront property at 502 Winston Road. While there was intent to follow-up with another post shortly after the “open-house” meeting in September, we listened to an inside voice that said just wait.

Apparently this was a wise move, as “Dozer” Doug Ford’s government is now attempting to intervene in what should be a municipal/regional application process with its plan to pave over large sections of the existing Greenbelt to have “More Homes Built Faster”. The waterfront Greenbelt lands at 502 Winston Road are part of that controversial proposal.

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Ford & PCs Planning To Bulldoze Parts Of The Greenbelt, Grimsby Included

Photo Credit: Canadian Press/Chris Young – Fair Dealing

Our next post was meant to highlight the environmental aspects of Bill 23 “More Homes Built Faster Act, but it appears Doug Ford and his Progressive “Conservatives” managed to one-up themselves today by proposing to remove or re-designate 7,400 acres from the Greenbelt. Among the proposed areas up for grabs in Grimsby is the 502 Winston Road lakefront property and a large block near Main Street West.

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