Am I surprised by the result of the auditor general’s report about the Greenbelt?
Yes and no.
When the Doug Ford Conservative government announced its intentions last year to remove 7,400 acres of land from the Greenbelt for development, there were two angles to the story in the media.
One angle, which was supported by the provincial government, was that these lands would be used to build the houses our province so desperately needs.
The other, which was believed by anyone not a die-hard Conservative Party supporter, was that these lands were chosen because some developers wanted them. Stories of tickets being purchased for the buck and doe of the Premier’s daughter were reported. So were stories of developers buying previously unusable lands, only for them to be removed from the Greenbelt a few months later, signifying some inside information being shared.
As Bonnie Lysyk’s report, released Aug. 9, shows, the second angle was indeed the correct angle.
I was not surprised that this was the result of the investigation conducted by Lysyk and her team. However, it was still shocking to see these results on paper.
These former Greenbelt lands were assessed at $240 million by MPAC, and the value of that land skyrocketed to nearly $8.3 billion – yes, billion – because the owners would now be able to develop those lands for, as Doug Ford has said numerous times, the much-needed housing our province needs.
If recent developments have taught us anything, it’s that these lands will not be used to build affordable or attainable housing. Sure, these new builds may fit the government’s definition of attainable housing – a residential unit for which rent is 80 per cent or less of the average market rent, or the price is 80 per cent or less of the average purchase price – but for those working low income jobs, or looking to purchase their first home, these new builds are not affordable.
There are several reasons why housing prices are higher – developers want higher margins, it costs more to service these homes, buyers want all the nicest finishes (i.e. they want a home they see on HGTV), etc. – and high mortgage rates do not help. Taking land from the Greenbelt to build more homes is not going to solve these problems, nor is it needed.
Lysyk’s report also found that there was more than enough land available to build the 1.5 million homes the government would like to see built.
The only people that benefit from the Greenbelt land swap are the developers who stand to make $8 billion selling massive homes on these lands to folks who already have a home.
I was told of one story of some lands that were removed from the Greenbelt east of Toronto. This 50-acre parcel of land now boasts a sign advertising a 17-lot “estate home development” is coming soon.
Yup, that will solve the housing problem in Ontario.
Lysyk presented 15 recommendations to the government on how they should move forward with the Greenbelt lands, and in the future with consultation, etc. Our fearless Premier said the government would accept and implement 14 of the 15. They would not, however, accept the recommendation to revisit the decision to remove those lands from the Greenbelt.
One look on social media, or talking with everyday folks here in midwestern Ontario, will show you that people are angry and frustrated with our elected officials at Queen’s Park. More specifically, they are frustrated with the lack of leadership these elected officials are showing.
Both Perth-Wellington MPP Matthew Rae and Huron-Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson, who also serves as the minister of agriculture and rural affairs in Doug Ford’s cabinet, provided short yet eerily similar responses to our request for comment on the Greenbelt story that is in this week’s paper.
Both responses tow the party line about how the government is committed to building more houses.
Was I surprised at this answer? Not at all. In fact, I was more surprised we even received a response from either MPP.
We no longer have elected officials that listen to their constituents; they only listen to the person running their party, more concerned about their status within the party rather than the communities they were elected to serve.
Sadly, we only have ourselves to blame for this self-inflicted wound to the system.
In June 2022, even with all of the frustrations around the Ford government, the Conservatives still won in a landslide victory, and virtually nothing in midwestern Ontario changed.
If we want change with our leadership, we can’t just demand it – we need to act on it. If people are so adamant about the Premier stepping down and wanting better local leadership, we need to do better at election time and vote for the person who will best represent our riding, not the person who wears a certain coloured shirt.
We also need to elect people who will implement real solutions to our housing problems, not sit back and allow party supporters to fill their pockets with billions of dollars.
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Mike Wilson is the editor of Midwestern Newspapers. Comments and feedback are welcome at mwilson@midwesternnewspapers.com.
