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NEWSMAKERS 2023: Markham-Stouffville MPP at the centre of Ontario's new housing strategy

Yorkregion.com
Jan. 4, 2024
Simon Martin

No politician in York Region was at the centre of things more in 2023 than Markham-Stouffville MPP Paul Calandra. When Ontario Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark resigned after a controversy surrounding Greenbelt land swaps, Premier Doug Ford brought in Calandra to be the new minister.

Calandra has spent much of his time as minister winding back changes made by his predecessor, including backtracking on the opening of Greenbelt lands and reversal of urban boundary expansion.

He also recently announced minister’s zoning orders (MZOs) given to Shakir Rehmatullah of Flato Developments Inc. in Stouffville are under review. “If we do not see the results in respect to a minister’s zoning order, our government will not hesitate to amend or revoke it,” Calandra said in December.

The Flato plan involves more than 3,000 units on the Markham-Stouffville border, just north of 19th Avenue. The first MZO issued in 2020 was for 507 units of adult lifestyle apartments. Several MZOs over the last couple of years have been issued for the area between McCowan Road and Highway 48 and Stouffville Road and 19th Avenue, ushering upwards of 4,500 homes. The ORCA group received an MZO for a 1,550-home subdivision in the same block that will incorporate an agrihood.

Calandra has taken up the mantle of trying to address the housing shortage in Ontario. “When it comes to building at least 1.5 million new homes by 2031, we need all hands on deck,” he said in November.

Calandra also reversed official plans in many municipalities, including the Region of York in an October announcement. “In reviewing how decisions were made regarding official plans, it is now clear that they failed to meet this test,” Calandra said in a statement at the time.