Launch of mandatory Ontario Greenbelt review months overdue: internal docs
CBC
Ontario appears to be months behind launching a mandatory review of the Greenbelt, and opposition politicians and environmentalists are asking for a wide-ranging and transparent study of the protected lands to preserve their future.
A mandatory 10-year-review of the Greenbelt Plan, which created the protected zone from development, was to have started earlier this year. As of late March that review had not formally begun, according to documents obtained by CBC News through a freedom of information request.
Civil servants warned new Municipal Affairs Minister Rob Flack that the process should have started on Feb. 28, the day after Ontario elected the Ford government to a third term.
"To date, (the Ministry) has initiated internal policy research and analysis, including developing possible approaches to consultation and Indigenous engagement," civil servants told the new minister in a March briefing note.
The Greenbelt was created in 2005 to protect farm land and some of the most ecologically sensitive areas of the Golden Horseshoe region. The law provides environmental protection and specifies where development should not occur.
The Greenbelt has been the subject of scandal for the Ford government since 2022, when it announced it would swap 15 pieces of land from the protected area and open them up for development. Reports from the auditor general and integrity commissioner found that the process to select lands was rushed and favoured certain developers.
The property owners with land removed from the Greenbelt stood to see their land value rise by $8.3 billion, the auditor general found in her own Greenbelt investigation.
Ford reversed course after heated public outcry and the RCMP continues to investigate the matter.
The legislation that created the Greenbelt requires a review every decade. That involves consultations with municipalities within the protected area and members of the public. It also requires the government hear from its own Greenbelt Council, a body of 10 representatives it appoints to meet regularly and provide advice to the minister on land use planning related to the protected area.
But the civil servants say that as of March, the council only had one member and no chairperson. According to the Greenbelt council's website Monday, the sole remaining appointee's term expires on June 24.
Seven members of that body, including former Toronto mayor and PC cabinet minister David Crombie, resigned in 2020 in protest over changes the Ford government made to the powers of conservation authorities.
But the civil servants are also clear about the parameters of the review — it's not meant to shrink the protected zone.
"Amendments shall not have the effect of reducing the total land area of the Greenbelt Plan," the briefing note says.
Minister Flack's office did not respond to questions from CBC News on the status of the review or the Greenbelt Council. The briefing note puts the Greenbelt review at the top of a list of early priority decisions for the minister, labelling it a "medium" operational and reputational risk for the government.
Montreal officials will hold a ceremony to mark the 36th anniversary of the Polytechnique massacre today.
The City of Regina's proposal to build a roadway through the McKell Wascana Conservation Park should be discarded, local conservationists say.
A holiday event that began in 2020 during the pandemic with three floats on pickup trucks has now become one of Kelowna’s big winter events, drawing thousands to the city’s downtown core.
WARNING: This story details allegations of child abuse.
It’s been hard to keep track of how many legal challenges and active court proceedings the United Conservative government has tried to quash or pre-emptively block in the last six weeks, but let’s try to tally:
Margaret Walker, the emcee of a Waterloo vigil commemorating the victims of the Montreal massacre, doesn't feel enough is being done to reflect on the killings and address gender-based violence.
The P.E.I. Humane Society says it is doing far more fundraising than it used to, and rising expenses — including the cost of animal medications — are a big reason why.
Ottawa is staring down a court-ordered deadline to submit a new plan to reform the on-reserve child welfare system, as a group of First Nations leaders and children’s advocates prepare a competing proposal.
An underpass revitalization project that was meant to pay tribute to the people of Parkdale has instead deteriorated into “a garbage dump,” according to nearby residents.
A young man has been charged with criminal negligence causing bodily harm after a fire at a frat party near Western University that injured five sorority sisters, including two seriously, late Tuesday night.
The massive deal to combine one of Hollywood's oldest studios with a streaming giant hasn't even been approved yet, but it's already riling multiple related industries and politicians concerned about monopolies and media concentration.
Mi'kmaq chiefs and a former Nova Scotia justice minister are criticizing the provincial government for directing police to crack down on illegal cannabis, saying the order undermines relations with Indigenous Peoples.
For years, there has been “glaring inequity” in the way the province has allocated the millions of dollars in its county roads budget, according to Department of Transportation Minister Chuck Chiasson.