You hardly expect the conservatives at Queen’s Park in Toronto to go after their own government but premier Doug Ford will be hard pressed on this goof. It is right there in the playbook for a Laurel and Hardy short film out of the 1930s. Auditor general Bonnie Lysyk laid the indictment out in a 93-page booklet and she has almost defied the provincial police to ignore the substance of her report.
What is missing in Lysyk’s indictment is the direct route of the malfeasance to the premier’s office. It looks like Doug Ford is getting the credit from his developer friends but it is some guy named Ryan Amato who might do the time. It seems that Amato is chief of staff for the housing minister. It is quite a story he is reported to have told Lysyk about going around collecting the material from the developers as to what part of the Greenbelt they wanted for development. I’ve seen that twist in politics too many times in the past. When doing something that you know is wrong, you line up the fall guy in advance.
But what puzzles me is that these developers knew what they were doing. They knew the politicians were lying to the public. There would never be geared-to-income homes built in the Greenbelt. Yet, I know some of these development people and I know that some of them even have a conscience.
What is starting to niggle at me is the question of what is going to happen to Ontario’s housing needs if this outrageous scheme gets the challenges it deserves. Is anything going to get built?
There is certainly no way we should worry about the billions in the Greenbelt that have been speculated on. First of all, this is obviously not serviced land. Somebody has to be at the local municipal engineer’s elbow today directing attention to the needs of providing roads, sewers, electricity, water, cable or fiber optics for some of these proposed homes. Do you want to bet on how long it takes for today’s farmland to be ready for some lucky families to be moving in?
Oh yah, I have heard about the time limits on getting there but I am also well aware that extensions can be arranged for friends of Mr. Ford. And there will certainly be lots of funding available for re-electing the Ford conservatives.
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