Greenbelt Grievances

In 2022 & 2023, I wrote a few Emails (edited by my wife) to our MPP and other Ministerial members regarding the Ford Government's corrupt theft of parts of the protected Greenbelt in Ontario. For the record, I have copied them below:

August 11, 2023

Dear. Ms. Khanjin,

?Doug Ford’s response to the AG’s damning report on the Greenbelt changes is very disturbing. Ford and the Housing Minister continue on pushing the lie that the Greenbelt is required to build 1.5 million homes mainly because of increasing immigration.?

The AG’s Greenbelt Changes report clearly points out that the Greenbelt is NOT required to reach the stated housing targets:

Greenbelt Changes Not Necessary to Achieve Government Housing Targets

• The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (Housing Ministry) had already allocated the entirety of the 1.5-million-unit housing target to municipalities in October 2022—one month before the government’s proposal to remove land from the Greenbelt.
• The government and the Housing Ministry did not have evidence that removing land from the Greenbelt was needed to meet the government’s housing goals.
• Ontario’s Housing Affordability Task Force determined that a shortage of land was not the cause of the province’s housing challenges and that the Greenbelt and other environmentally sensitive areas must be protected.
• Chief Planners in the regions of Durham, Hamilton and York—which are home to all 15 sites removed from the Greenbelt—told us that Greenbelt land was not needed to meet the housing targets assigned to them by the Housing Ministry and that there is sufficient land outside the Greenbelt in their regions that is already or easily serviced.
• The Regional Planning Commissioners of Ontario, a group of senior municipal planning leaders from across Ontario, stated it does not support the removal of lands from the Greenbelt as a necessary step to address Ontario’s housing needs.?

?Ford actually said?today on CP24 that 500K or maybe 800K immigrants are coming to Ontario which is a gross?exaggeration - 500k immigrants are expected in 2025 in ALL of Canada.?

Stats. Canada indicates 227K immigrants came to Ontario in 2022: ?https://www.statista.com/statistics/444906/number-of-immigrants-in-canada/?

"Ford also admitted that only 10 percent of the proposed new housing would be?“affordable” !! As I indicated below, Bill 23’s definition of affordable is 80% of market value which is way beyond what most new?immigrants can?afford!

"In 2019, according to?Statistics Canada, the median wage of an immigrant that had been in the country for a year was $31,900. That’s almost 18 per cent lower than the median wage of a Canadian. Even with two earners, it’s certainly not enough to buy a house in most of the province, where the?averageprice is currently about $800,000”. ?https://thenarwhal.ca/ontario-greenbelt-immigration/?

Ford?repeated?his astonishing accusation that the Greenbelt was?unnecessary. Back in May Ford actually called the Greenbelt a Scam! That was/is a very Trumpian insult to intelligent?Ontario residents.?

The Greenbelt was developed over many years including by Conservatives with a lot of consultation (something that was sorely lacking ?by the Ford Gov’t in the Greenbelt changes and other major decisions). ?

What is a scam is your Gov’t’s rigged process of allowing protected prime?agricultural and?environmentally?sensitive land to be developed by a?preferred?group of investors.?

In the past, such?egregious conduct by a government?would have resulted in resignations. But all the Ford Gov’t does is double down on false premises.?

The AG’s report on P. 67 points out several?potential criminal activities including:?potential violation of the Public Service of Ontario Act, 2006,?Use of Personal Email Accounts Contrary to Public Service Cybersecurity Guidelines and deletion of?E-mails contrary to RecordkeepingAct.

( I?worked for the City of Thunder Bay for over 30 yrs. and was told deleting government e-mails could result in dismissal.)?

Many people are indicating the Greenbelt Grab should be investigated by the OPP.?

The following is from a letter sent to the OPP in Dec. 2022 by?Patrick Macklem

Professor Emeritus of Law?University of Toronto?

The Greenbelt is publicly protected land that is meant to protect the environmental and food security interests of Ontarians. The offence of breach of public trust, one offence that merits OPP investigation, requires elected officials to exercise their powers for the public benefit. In a 2006 decision, the Supreme Court of Canada clarified the constituent elements of this offence as follows:?

? the accused was an official as defined by the Criminal Code;? ? the accused was acting in connection with the duties of his or her office; ? the accused breached the standard of responsibility and conduct demanded of them by the nature of the office; ? the conduct of the accused represented a serious and marked departure from the standards expected of an individual in the accused’s position of public trust; and ? the accused acted with the intention to use his or her public office for a purpose other than the public good (for example, for a dishonest, partial, corrupt, or oppressive purpose). -?

As stated today by The National Farmer’s Union the decision to develop the Greenbelt should be reversed: ??https://farmersforum.com/ontarios-nfu-calls-for-reversal-of-decision-to-develop-greenbelt/?

We and many others including former Conservative supporters agree with the farmers.?

December 22, 2022

Dear. Ms. Khanjin,

We are writing to express our opposition to Bill 23.

It appears we are not alone. You are to be?congratulated for uniting a diverse group including but not limited to: ?Municipalities,?Indigenous Organizations, Farmers, Environmental Groups, Architects, Heritage groups and concerned citizens against Bill 23.

(Even the Christian Farmers Federation Of Ontario is against Bill 23) ?https://ofa.on.ca/an-open-letter-to-premier-doug-ford-regarding-farmland-preservation/?

One reason may be that Bill 23 would permit the province to remove up to 100?hectares of prime agricultural land without any consultation!

While Bill 23 has a few good points but most of the Bill will not help Ontario’s housing affordability situation and in fact, will make matters worse.??

"Waiving the?development fees, parkland dedication fees, and community?benefit charges for so-called?“affordable” housing will download the cost of infrastructure, roads transit, sewers, parks etc. to Municipalities and to taxpayers.?

"The Association of Municipalities of Ontario says the changes could leave municipalities short $5 billion and see taxpayers footing the bill —?either in the form of higher property taxes or service cuts —?and there is nothing in the bill that would guarantee improved housing affordability.”

Bill 23’s definition of affordability is highly questionable. "By setting the definition of affordability for home ownership at 80 per cent of the market rate, units that would have sold for a million dollars are now considered affordable and exempted from development charges if they sell for $800,000," Ontario for All coordinator Sean Meagher told committee earlier this month”. ?https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-passes-housing-bill-23-1.6666657?

The standard accepted definition for affordable housing has been: "Affordable housing?is housing with a market price (for purchase) or rent that is affordable to households of low and moderate income,?spending no more than 30 per cent of their gross household income on housing, without government assistance”.?https://oakvillenews.org/opinion/shell-game-of-affordable-housing-op-ed-bill-23/? ?(I know this to be true because I worked for over 31 years with The City of Thunder Bay in Social and Community Services-G. Niemi )

?Bill 23 will not make housing more affordable but?only"A -Ford -Able" for the rich and well-off while?increasing?taxes and or cutting services for the rest of us. It?will?however richly reward a?handful?of developers!?

The gutting of the role Conservation Authorities is also of grave concern to us "?Many of the proposed amendments to the?Conservation Authorities Act?and the?Planning Act?in Bill 23 are concerning, as they signal a move away from environmental protection at a time when climate change impacts are being felt more at the local level.?Bill 23 proposes sweeping changes to the regulatory responsibilities of Ontario’s 36 conservation authorities that, if passed, will undermine the collaborative and productive changes put forward by the Ministry led Conservation Authority Working Group over the past two years”. ?https://www.amo.on.ca/advocacy/health-human-services/unpacking-bill-23-more-homes-built-faster-act-2022?

We?are also upset and angry that Bill 23 will allow 7,400 acres of the Greenbelt to be?developed even after Premiere Ford & Minister Clark both promised they would NOT touch the Greenbelt!

The Governments own Housing Affordability Task Force did NOT recommend developing land from the Greenbelt!?

"A shortage of land isn't the cause of the problem," the report continues. "Land is available, both inside the existing built-up areas and on undeveloped land outside greenbelts. We need to make better use of land.”

The proposed land swap of other?property into the Greenbelt is a shell game. Some of the?proposed?property is already protected and other property is less environmentally sensitive than what is being seized from Greenbelt.?

In short, we and many others are against Bill 23. ? At a minimum, we?recommend?amending Bill 23 to: not develop any of the Greenbelt, change the?definition of affordability to the accepted standard and restore previous full authority to Conservation authorities.

If major changes are not made to Bill 23, we will?remember this affront to our environment,?heritage and proper consultive planning at the next election. ?Bill 23 will not result in much more affordable housing but only reward rich developers and donors to the PC party.?

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