If the people of Hamilton are any indication, the citizen fury against Doug Ford's brazen and corrupt theft of Greenbelt lands continues unabated.
In a meeting ostensibly called to get input into the kinds of benefits the city should negotiate with provincial minions, compromise and collaboration were the last things on people's minds.
The feisty crowd booed when Premier Doug Ford’s name was mentioned and cheered when city planners said council has formally called for all affected lands, including parcels in Ancaster, Winona and Mount Hope, to be returned to the Greenbelt.
...many residents — dozens wielding signs condemning the Progressive Conservative government or calling to protect the Greenbelt — showed up urging council to abandon any negotiations related to potential development.
Michelle Silverton earned applause from the feisty crowd in urging the city to pay attention to “people power” on display Wednesday and refuse to participate in any development talks. “This is what democracy looks like,” she said.
An inflamed electorate can be a dangerous thing for those in power, especially those not easily taken in by the strange and essentially truculent tone taken by the new housing minister, Paul Calandra, who just the other day suggested that more lands may be removed, owing to a housing crisis that he clams has changed since the last government report, led by some Tory diehards like Tim Hudak, said such Greenbelt appropriation was not needed.
And the outrage is hardly limited to Hamiltonians, if letters to The Star are any indication:
Doug Ford’s fatally flawed Greenbelt plan must be stopped in its tracks, Sept. 6
I strongly agree with your editorial, but the core problem goes beyond the GTHA and it threatens human existence. Simply put, developing open space accelerates deadly global warming and pollution and shrinks food supplies. Approving such costly-to-taxpayers-to-service projects, including with expanded and new highways, will ultimately result in more suffering. That is far more criminal than backroom deals between developers and politicians. You can build new homes elsewhere, but you can’t create more oxygen, water, and arable land.
We’ve arrived at the cusp of climate disaster because we’ve ignored or deliberately buried the science. Will officials show the courage to stop the Greenbelt plan and similar ones across the country and turn toward brownfield development or will they continue to drive us to oblivion?
Brendan Read, Nanaimo, BC
There is a line in William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” that may well sum up Premier Doug Ford’s handling of his Greenbelt fiasco: “False face must hide what the false heart doth know.”
Scott Kennedy, Toronto
At a time where valuable farmland is shrinking all over the world due to climate change and overdevelopment, I’m surprised that the Ontario government would allow useful arable land to be wasted on private development. I understand that there is a desperate need for housing in Canada and elsewhere in the world, but wouldn’t it be more logical to develop areas of Ontario with less arable land? Fertile soil is a terrible thing to waste. Luxurious homes/condos just won’t put food on the table for Canadians.
Michael Pravica, Henderson, Nevada
The Star should start to fact check Premier Doug Ford’s comments about the Greenbelt as it did for former U.S. President Donald Trump, especially the egregious lie that “the people have spoken — we won’t touch the Greenbelt.” I counted at least 10 lies and mistruths in the last two weeks alone.
James Wigmore, Toronto
At the very least, this entire sordid escapade shows that voter apathy, at least in this case, is not something the Ford thieves should be counting on.
