Story by Joe Warmington • TORONTO SUN
Ontario Premier Doug Ford speaks about the Greenbelt scandal, resignation of Housing Minister Steve Clark and his minor cabinet shuffle at Queen's Park on Tuesday, September 5, 2023.© Jack Boland
Better late than never.
Finally, Premier Doug Ford has read the room and realized on the Greenbelt file, something had to be done and done fast.
The coming review, he announced Tuesday , was needed perhaps even more than the building of new homes as it looked like his government was suddenly sitting on shaky foundation. A stepping back from these controversial Greenbelt deals to make sure the i’s were dotted and t’s were crossed was abundantly clear to everybody but Ford and now former housing minister Steve Clark.
When asked Aug. 10 about just making sure there were no backroom favours done and reverse agreements if there had been, both politicians were defiant and pushed ahead on following 14 of the recommendations from the auditor general but not the 15th to stop the agreements to free up Greenbelt lands altogether.
This was always a mistake, and this issue was not going to just go away. It eventually grew to a point where the RCMP were asked by the OPP to take a look to see if it needs probing, where Clark’s chief of staff, Ryan Amato, resigned followed by highly respected Clark being forced to step away from his cabinet role as well.
That was then. On Sept. 5, 2023 Ford said he’s asked new Housing Minister Paul Calandra to undertake a “complete review from top to bottom.” If only he and Clark had said that Aug. 11.
Paul Calandra, the minister of housing is being asked to review all Greenbelt land deals© Provided by Toronto Sun
While this issue has been a big problem for Ford, his bigger problem was the hit to his brand.
He, like his late mayor of Toronto brother Rob, are seen by the public as flawed characters but ones who can be trusted with public money. Developers passing land swap packages to a chief of staff at industry dinners stinks to high heaven to a public who may not know a lot about development but know the difference between an honest process and a potentially corrupt one.
They needed to be reassured this was not going to unfairly favour friends of the premier and of the Conservative Party, or take environmentally sensitive lands and turn them into cement villages. The premier asking for full review of not just the 14 properties in question but up to 800 others is designed to allay those concerns from a public who story trackers show are not particularly interested in following this story in large numbers.
“We are going to make sure there is merit to every application that comes forward,” said Ford.
While these words alone will not end this controversary, they do take the stinger out of the situation. The premier has acknowledged this has been a mess and mistakes were made and has held people accountable, which the public may note isn’t always noticeable with other governments.
A review won’t satisfy the opposition or media, who all have a job to do and who will rightly probe property owners, lobbyists, builders, and consultants. What it does do is slow the frenzy of those who smelled blood in the water and may have lunged too quickly at the throat of Ford and his government.
Ford’s review serves all masters in that it aims to ensure the deals are legitimate while not buckling to the extreme agenda driven by activists who merely want to keep land — ready for building much-needed housing — locked and out of play. In fact, Ford went a step further by saying hundreds of properties will be reviewed which could mean even more housing could eventually be built where it makes sense. Him mentioning building modular-style “starter homes” with “backyards” for about $500,000 on these lands was also a master stroke.
Former Clarington mayor John Mutton, who some claim is Mr. X, has posted photos of himself with many political leaders, including Ontario Premier Doug Ford.© Provided by Toronto Sun
If that really happens, people may not care what loud partisan politicians, pushing carbon taxes and congestive red tape and regulation to delay progress, have to say about it. People may not care about who Mr. X is if they are able to find an affordable place to raise their families.
While Ford’s moves may drive critics up the wall, it’s the kind of deft politics necessary to keep power and reminds of what the public saw with federal Liberals and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau skating through the SNC-Lavalin scandal that saw a decision trading jobs over prosecution.
Time will tell if Ford’s review is one of quality and will help him move past a bad month. While there are still many legitimate questions to be asked, if thousands of new affordable homes are built on swapped-out Greenbelt lands, the public’s already tepid interest may focus on the positive of all of this period.
Ford, and certainly Clark, may regret not moving on this approach earlier.
jwarmington@postmedia.com
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