They seemed to pop up overnight. One day I was driving through Pickering up Brock Road and there was the Greenbelt land – fields, gullies and natural forest. The next day, following the same route, there were signs as big as all outdoors shouting out to all who passed:
“100-foot by 300-foot lots!” those signs proclaimed.
As I recall, it was just before the recent Greenbelt controversy erupted that I first saw the signs. (more…)
He preferred to present the government’s first-quarter fiscal results, focus on Ontario’s deficit projection for 2023-24. But reporters preferred a response from Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy to the Greenbelt controversy in his riding.
“The 100 people I talked to say ‘build,’” he answered. “That’s what I hear and that’s why we’re going to continue on our build.” (more…)
On a recent nighttime flight home from a trip out West, I looked out the passenger jet window. Our landing approach toward Pearson took the flight across terrain northeast of the GTA. In the darkness, I spotted a cluster of lights I knew to be Uxbridge. A calmness came over me. The darkness around that cluster of lights reassured me that our Greenbelt looked safe. Untouched. Protected.
Then this week, I heard the municipal affairs minister at Queen’s Park describe a land swap to reporters.
“It’s a bold action to ensure that we meet our housing target,” Steve Clark said.
Bold indeed. But in my view not in a positive way. (more…)