Doug Ford government to scrap municipal boundary changes after Greenbelt scandal

Premier Doug Ford is scrapping planned changes to municipal boundaries in a flip-flop related to the $8.28-billion Greenbelt land swap scandal.

Thestar.com
Oct. 24, 2023
Robert Benzie

Premier Doug Ford is scrapping planned changes to municipal boundaries in another major policy flip-flop related to the $8.28-billion Greenbelt land swap scandal now under criminal investigation by the RCMP.

Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Paul Calandra announced Monday at Queen’s Park that the embattled Progressive Conservatives were moving to “reset” relations with cities and towns.

“When reviewing how decisions were made regarding official plans, it is clear that they failed to meet this test,” said Calandra, in a veiled shot at the office of his predecessor, Steve Clark.

“In response, as soon as I am able, I will be introducing legislation that would reverse the official plan decisions for Barrie, Belleville, Guelph, Hamilton, Ottawa, the city of Peterborough as well as the regional municipalities of Halton, Niagara, Peel, Waterloo, York and Wellington County,” he said.

“The legislation would wind back provincial changes to official plans and official plan amendments, except in circumstances where construction has started or where doing so would contravene existing provincial legislation.”

Calandra said Queen’s Park would compensate municipalities for any costs incurred as a result of the previous amendments to their official plans.

This latest U-turn comes as the opposition New Democrats, Liberals and Greens warned the municipal boundary changes last November favoured some developers by making their land more valuable because housing could be built in it. Queen’s Park expanded urban boundaries into rural areas to allow for more housing development as the province aims to build 1.5 million new homes by 2031.

NDP Leader Marit Stiles said amid “a historic housing crisis, this government has wasted a year trying to convince Ontarians that their nonsensical land-use policies, tailor-made to benefit select land speculators, offer real solutions for everyday Ontarians.”

“Minister Calandra’s latest flip-flop makes it abundantly clear; we have only scratched the surface of the damage this government has done,” said Stiles.

“There is a deeply concerning culture of corruption and preferential treatment embedded in how this government makes public policy, and Ontarians deserve more answers,” she said.

Interim Liberal leader John Fraser quipped the Tories saw “the light, but it’s just the heat of an RCMP criminal investigation.”

“They’re obviously worried, they’re scared. They’re trying to cover their tracks,” said Fraser.

Green Leader Mike Schreiner said the Tories’ bungled bid to redraw municipalities’ official plans was a reprise of the Greenbelt fiasco.

“There was a corrupt decision-making process that led to the decision to open the Greenbelt for development. I think we’ve had a similar corrupt process leading to these enforced urban boundary expansions,” said Schreiner.

The move comes against the backdrop of an auditor general’s investigation into the government’s use of minister’s zoning orders (MZOs), which has also spooked the Progressive Conservatives.

Ford’s Tories have issued more of the orders that override local planning in the past five years than Liberal, PC and NDP governments did in the previous three decades.

Calandra said he’s still reviewing past MZOs but emphasized “the vast majority I’m not concerned with.”

It was an Aug. 9 report by the auditor -- combined with an Aug. 30 review by the integrity commissioner -- that caused the Greenbelt scandal to erupt.

Two cabinet ministers -- Clark and Kaleed Rasheed -- and two top aides -- Ryan Amato and Jae Truesdell -- were forced to resign before Ford cancelled the planned development of 7,400 acres of Greenbelt land on Sept. 21.

Calandra said the Mounties have not yet been in touch with the government as they probe the land swap decision.

Environmental and residents’ groups who had fought against the province’s urban boundary expansion for the past few years celebrated the decision.

“None of the expansions really were based on evidence, and were very much based on connections between development industry and the provincial government,” said Tim Gray, executive director with Environmental Defence.

“We had hoped that the government would recognize their mistake, and we are so happy they did,” said Gray.

Jane Fogal, a Halton councillor who opposed the regional urban boundary expansion, said she was surprised.

“It’s like everything from this government, there isn’t any reasoning behind their decisions. One day it’s in and one day it’s out,” said Fogal.

“Why are they doing it this way? With the RCMP investigation ongoing in the Greenbelt, it feels like they are trying to get in front of it somehow,” she said, adding the constant policy shifts are wreaking havoc for civic planning departments across Ontario.

Lilly Noble, of Stop Sprawl Hamilton, called it a victory for citizens, noting 5,400 acres of land had been allocated for expansion there due to boundary changes.

Stop Sprawl York Region’s Irene Ford said while the announcement was positive, she still has concerns.

“This has been a complete waste of the public and taxpayers’ time and money,” said Ford.

“We are no further ahead on building housing, only marred in controversy and scandal about building on sensitive landscapes instead of focused on achieving our goals to build more housing within our existing urban boundaries.”