‘There’s something wrong’: Greenbelt concerns raised as Doug Ford visits rural Ontario

The premier received a polite reception at the opening day of the 104th Annual International Plowing Match, but the Greenbelt controversy has been sowing some division among his supporters in farming communities.

Thestar.com
Sept. 20, 2023
Kristin Rushowy

Premier Doug Ford received a polite reception at the opening day of the 104th Annual International Plowing Match, but the $8.28-billion Greenbelt land swap scandal has been sowing some division among his supporters in farming communities.

Among the waves and hellos from the sidelines to the premier and his caucus as they wended their way along the opening day parade route in a tractor-pulled wagon, there was also some discontent among attendees at the event held in Dufferin County, west of Orangeville.

“If Doug Ford keeps going the way he’s going-- for (future generations), where’s their food coming from? Farmers feed us,” said Mona Blain, whose husband’s family has been farming for 100 years in southwestern Ontario.

“Farmers keep our world from going hungry, and when you keep building on our prime farmland, where’s the food coming from?” said Blain, who voted for the Progressive Conservatives in the last election.

She said while she thought Ford handled the COVID-19 pandemic well, she’s not been impressed with the ongoing Greenbelt controversy that has prompted integrity commissioner and auditor general reports, a possible police investigation, and that led to the loss of a key cabinet minister over criticism that insiders were given preferential treatment as protected lands were opened up for development.

“When you start giving away land for billions of dollars and helping out your friends in the process, there’s something wrong,” she added.

Orangeville Mayor Lisa Post said she’s heard “lots of concerns.”

“We’re surrounded by Greenbelt lands and by Niagara Escarpment lands,” Post said, “so protecting those things, and protecting our prime (agricultural) lands is really important to our county and to our surrounding area.”

Post said county and other municipal leaders have spoken to representatives in the ministries of the environment and agriculture, including Agriculture Minister Lisa Thompson, “to talk about how important it is” to preserve agricultural land, but has had no indication from the government that it will return any lands to the Greenbelt.

In a speech to the crowd at the plowing match, the largest event of its kind in North America, Ford did not mention the Greenbelt, but said that “we’re always going to have the agriculture, the food sector’s back, but most importantly we’re going to have the farmer’s backs.”

A handful of protesters held signs and booed at the end of his speech, though they were drowned out by claps and cheers from supporters.

Following his speech, Ford briefly spoke to reporters, saying “we expanded (the Greenbelt) by 2,000 acres.”

NDP Leader Marit Stiles pledged to keep the issue front and centre when the legislature resumes next week. Her complaint to the integrity commissioner led to a damning report that concluded the government left the Greenbelt issue in the hands of an inexperienced chief of staff with no oversight, and blamed the then-housing minister for having his “head in the sand.”

Ford “is not listening to rural people, he’s not listening to farmers. They are saying very clearly that they want the land returned to the Greenbelt,” Stiles said.

Green Leader Mike Schreiner said 60 per cent of the land removed from the Greenbelt is in the Duffins Rouge agricultural preserve east of Toronto, “and that’s some of the best farmland in North America.”

Interim Liberal leader John Fraser said while Ford didn’t mention the Greenbelt in his speech, it was the “elephant in the room.”

While the plowing match is a celebration, he said, “people are angry, and they are angry in rural Ontario and they are angry in urban Ontario.”

PC supporter Doug Sawyer said farmers aren’t happy, and that Ford has to find a “happy medium.”

“He’ll get it settled somehow or another,” said Sawyer, a construction worker from Cobourg who said he has attended the plowing match for the last 50 years.

Post said while the PCs have strong support in the area, “there are decisions that are made by all parties that are not favourable-- and this would be one that I think needs a pause, and there needs to be better consultation with the municipalities to make sure that (farmland) is preserved and that our

Greenbelt lands are maintained.”

Ford has repeatedly said the Greenbelt lands are needed to address a shortage of housing in the province.

The plowing match, which began Tuesday, is a major weeklong event for rural Ontario that draws party leaders, cabinet ministers and MPPs and features a parade, speeches and a plowing contest.

In the past, premiers have been both celebrated and booed at the event, which is typically attended by thousands of farmers from across the province.

Ford got a warm greeting there shortly after his 2018 election victory, although rowdy protesters upset with his cuts to Toronto city council were also in attendance.

In 2016, then-premier Kathleen Wynne was booed amid criticism of steep electricity bills.

The plowing match is touted as the largest event of its kind on the continent, and more than 80,000 visitors in total are expected. It pumps about $25 million into the local economy.