I was talking to my good friend Dave, from Winnipeg, the other night. Dave and I have been friends for 40 years. The affinities that bind us include books, movies and, of course, politics. Like me, Dave has a jaundiced, cynical view of those who represent us, seeing them as largely self-serving, selfish to the point of ignoring the real needs of the people.
Dave's tale of the Conservative provincial government currently in power is one of incompetence, conflict of interest and, quite possibly, corruption. It is the same array of scourges we face in Ontario under Doug Ford who, although he promotes a folksy persona, has his heart firmly held in the greedy grasp of business, most particularly the business of his developer friends. Witness the systematic unraveling of the Greenbelt and the circus-like transformation Doug envisions for Ontario Place - a 'world-class' spa.
My conversation with Dave was spent in part in mutual commiseration, but being an Ontarian, I couldn't help but feel that our provincial malfeasance, in all of its corrupt splendour, trumps that of our neighbour to the west.
And I am hardly alone in appreciating the magnitude of the situation here at home, as a variety of letters-to-the editor attest to.
An urban sprawl crisis
Toronto Star
BARRY GRAY THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR FILE PHOTOA rally drew several hundred to Hamilton City Hall to protest the province’s Greenbelt plan and Bill 23 in 2022. Building more sprawl with large monstrous million-dollar homes is not the answer, writes Marion Bartlett.
Get off your couch, we need a housing revolution, March 27
Yes, we need housing. But at what cost? The Doug Ford government addressed the housing crisis with the “More Homes Built Faster Act,” Bill 23. It aims to develop 50,000 houses on the ecological backbone of Ontario, the Greenbelt.
The bill undermines our rights, communities, and markets and defiles our wildlife legacy. It violates Indigenous Rights, puts federally endangered species in further jeopardy, and puts our drinking water and security at risk. All for a few favoured developers who have espoused this plan to make money at everyone else’s expense.
This is not a solution. It is Ford’s folly. There needs to be another solution. I appeal to Ontarians to view the housing shortage broadly, considering human and environmental effects. Urban sprawl is not just an economic issue but, indeed, an ecological crisis.
Jasmeet Dhaliwal, Hamilton
Ford’s idea of ‘partnership’ is an abusive relationship
Toronto Star
Ontario to help cities with shortfall, April 4
I actually laughed when I read Ontario housing minister Steve Clark’s recent comments on the provincial government’s “partnership” with municipalities.
The Doug Ford government is making catastrophic and long-lasting planning decisions that affect cities without consulting them. It’s making revenue stream decisions that affect cities, planning highways that run through cities, paving over significant environmental lands and wildlife habitat, and taking away municipalities’ powers to plan their own cities and towns all without consulting them.
This is no partnership, this is an abusive relationship.
But, we are not to worry, says Clark. If Bill 23 is creating financial problems for our cities, by starving them of development charges that used to be paid by developers, the provincial government will “not hang them out to dry.”
I guess that means that if the province deems our cities sufficiently desperate for the funds required to serve the needs of residents, the province will bail them out. With what? Our tax dollars of course!
Why should the developers, who are making millions thanks to Ford, have to pay for the infrastructure to support their new developments when the taxpayers can do it ?
Make no mistake folks, we are the ones being “hung out to dry.”
Marilyn Ginsburg, Markham
Ford and photo ops
It’s galling to see Doug Ford on another self congratulating photo op this time with medical students. I wonder if he talked about how the health care system in Ontario is imploding as we breathe and he has the money and means to slow/stop this to an extent but refuses to. It would spoil his personal agenda and he might have to consider he was wrong on many decisions and as we have seen before, that does not bode well with him. Once graduated, why would any health care professional want to stay here when you see what you have to deal with in reality realizing you could have it better just about anywhere.
Robert Panchyson, Burlington
There is one major difference between Manitoba and Ontario, however, that is sobering. The former must face the electorate in the fall, while we in Ontario must continue to groan under the yoke of incompetence, greed and corruption until 2026.
Some days, that seems like a very, very long way off.
