A Political Prisoner

 

                                                                   

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During my reasonably long life, I have been witness to an array of political leadership styles and sensibilities: the inspirational, the aspirational, the ideological, the bumbling and, worst of all, the stupid. Here in Ontario, where I reside, it is stupidity that is on daily offer from Premier Doug Ford.

I'm sure Doug sees it quite differently, doubtlessly convinced his 'ability' to wade through and often eliminate red tape and see through 'scams' is the kind of bold leadership the province needs and is benefitting from. 

- Why all this endless talk about the future of Ontario Place? Just bring in a giant spa, sign a 99-year-lease, and have the taxpayers fund an underground parking lot to the tune of about $700 million.

- Need more houses? Cut development fees and build on farms and wetlands. 

- What's wrong with having such close ties to developers who benefit from inside information? Fostering close relations with movers and shakers is how to get things done.

Sadly for Doug, there are too many 'stupid' people who fail to appreciate his genius. Take their attitude toward development of  the Greenbelt, which our Ford recently called "a scam."

Ontario Premier Doug Ford called the Greenbelt a “scam” on Thursday as the NDP accused his government of hiding from new reports about the area’s planned development.

“We have a Liberal government that [got] a bunch of staffers, randomly got a highlighter and went up and down roads. They were going through golf courses, through buildings. It was just a big scam as far as I'm concerned,” the premier said of the 2005 government which established the space.

Ford made the comments in response to questions about reports that suggested his office discussed changes to the Greenbelt months prior to announcing it would be removing 7,400 acres from 15 different areas of the area for development. He denied that his office discussed the changes in August, as was reported by Canadian investigative online magazine The Narwhal.

Sorry, Mr. Premier. Not so fast. Victor Doyle, one of the developers of the Greenbelt Plan, begs to differ.

Ontario’s Greenbelt is fundamental to the environmental, agricultural and economic sustainability of the Golden Horseshoe. In calling it a “scam” — defined as a dishonest or illegal plan or activity — Premier Doug Ford has disparaged the Ontario civil service along with countless professionals, citizens, politicians and the municipalities, conservation authorities, civil society organizations and community groups that devoted their time and knowledge to create the largest and most strongly protected Greenbelt in the world.

Globally recognized and recipient of both provincial and national awards, the Greenbelt ensures clean water by protecting our aquifers and rivers that feed the Great Lakes. It protects our forests to provide clean air and habitat for plants, wildlife and pollinating insects. It protects vast tracts of the best farmland in Canada, which are a fundamental component of our economy and food security and it plays a critical role in combating the impacts of climate change by mitigating flooding, sequestering carbon and moderating temperature.

The real scam is the premier's insistence that the Greenbelt is needed for housing.

Today, leading research by civil society organizations and the Regional Planning Commissioners of Ontario show there are over of 200,000 acres of approved, unbuilt land for urban uses in the Greater Golden Horseshoe with over 2 million units planned, 1.3 million of which are either under construction, approved or applied for.

This does not include the 60,000-plus acres of farmland the minister approved for urban use this past fall just in the GTHA. There is absolutely no need whatsoever to remove any land from the Greenbelt, which is supposed to be the counterbalance to the permanent urbanization arising from development of the above lands.

To a hammer, everything looks like a nail. To an idiot, simple solutions are ubiquitous. In many ways, I feel like a political prisoner, shackled to a government that knows the cost of everything but the value of nothing. 

Would that there were enough intelligent voters to rectify the situation in 2026.