Gordon Prentice at Large - Politics in Newmarket
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- Written by: Gordon Prentice
Yesterday’s bombshell story in the Globe and Mail reveals that Susan McGovern, appointed by Doug Ford to the Board of the Greenbelt Foundation, is the sister of Michael Rice who bought the Greenbelt lands at Bathurst in King for $80M and is the spouse of John McGovern, the Rice Group’s Senior Vice President of Policy and Planning. 
Nothing prepared me for this.
I now realise the developers' tentacles extend everywhere.
Everything is corrupted. From municipalities that bend the truth to hospital administrators who stay silent.
Permanent, Protected and Prosperous
The Globe and Mail tells us:
“The government appointed Susan McGovern in 2019 to the board of the Greenbelt Foundation, which describes itself on its website as “the only organization solely dedicated to ensuring the Greenbelt remains permanent, protected and prosperous.” Her three-year term ended on Nov. 20.”
As I was scrolling through the readers’ comments on these astonishing revelations, I came across this one from Nick Wright (right) which, I think, neatly sums up the position.
Conflicts of Interest
The Greenbelt Foundation has a policy covering conflicts of interest of members (whose definition includes Board members), associates and employees:
“It will be the responsibility of all members, associates and employees to identify when a real or potential conflict may exist, and to inform the Board or CEO of such situations when they arise.”
We know from the Globe and Mail’s research that Susan McGovern did not declare any conflicts of interest. Perhaps she didn’t discuss Greenbelt issues with her brother or husband who were actively engaged in removing land from the Greenbelt throughout 2022 if not before.
I don’t know what she got up to in her years on the Greenbelt Foundation Board. But I have asked for sight of the Board minutes covering the period from her appointment to the Board until her departure and I shall see where it takes me.
Update on 11 September 2023: Toronto Star Editorial: Doug Ford's Greenbelt fixation more than defies explanation. It demands further investigation.
And the Greenbelt Foundation's Annual Report for 2020-21 tells us:
"Since February 2020, the Greenbelt Foundation and Oak Ridges Moraine Foundation have been integrated, working collectively to preserve, protect, and restore the environmental and agricultural integrity of the Oak Ridges Moraine."
A new Oak Ridges Moraine Committee of the Greenbelt Foundation's Board of Directors was set up to oversee this work. Susan McGovern was a Committee member. The ex-Greenbelt land at Bathurst bought by her brother, Michael Rice, for $80M on 15 September 2022, contained land which was part of the Oak Ridges Moraine. The Ford Government has now redesignated that land as a settlement area, open for development. See Timeline.
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- Written by: Gordon Prentice
In a dramatic new development, this morning's Globe and Mail reveals a direct family connection between Michael Rice and John McGovern of the Rice Group and Susan McGovern, a former Ford Government appointee to the Greenbelt Foundation.
Click "read more" for this morning's jaw dropping Globe and Mail revelations.
Update on 9 September 2023: From the Globe and Mail: Opposition demands Greenbelt reversal amid revelations of Ford government appointee's family ties
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- Written by: Gordon Prentice
Doug Ford’s press conference earlier today was painful to watch.
His opening statement ends with a flourish invoking the Almighty:
“Thank you and God bless the people of Ontario.”
Now he is taking questions from journalists, mainly about the Greenbelt scandal.
He frequently moves off-topic giving us a torrent of statistics. Five to six million people coming to Ontario. 800,000 last year. Modular homes for under $500,000. Wartime homes. 60,000 new nurses 8,000 new doctors. Thousands and thousands of new educators. Over 8,000 this year alone. Four subway lines. $70 billion on transit. $30 billion on highways and roads and bridges. On and on he goes, gushing figures. Millions. Billions. Trillions. He will always fight for hard working blue collar people.
He reminds me of those apparatchiks in the former Soviet Union lauding the latest five-year plan and reeling off statistics on tractor production.
Re-evaluating everything. Consulting everyone
Oh yes...He also says he is going to review and re-evaluate all the land in the Greenbelt.
“We're going to review the whole system including the 14 properties. We're going to review all the properties. We acknowledge the process wasn't up to snuff by any means… (interruption) We're going to make sure that all properties are reviewed… all 700-800 is mandated in legislation that we should review. We're going to review them. We're going to make sure they stand with their merit and that's what we're going to look at.
…the provincial facilitator will continue working with the land-owners and the builders to move forward. But they are going to review the whole process, not just the 14 lands (but) the 700-800 applications and they’ll be able to sit down and talk to stakeholders, the indigenous communities, people that need homes. We’ll be talking to communities and we’ll do a complete review."
Phew! That sounds like a lotta work. And a lot of consultation for a Government that until today ignored what people had to say. They didn't even read or analyse the comments from the public on the Greenbelt proposals. Straight into the waste paper basket!
Community centres, hospitals, long term care homes, parks
Ford is asked if the Government entered into a legally binding agreement with any of those (ex-Greenbelt) landowners that they would have to build X amount of housing on that land.
Ford says it will be up to the facilitator to ensure that these lands include community centres, hospitals, long term care homes, parks
“and that’s something that we wouldn’t be able to do if a builder down the street, for instance, decides to build. We don’t go up and say you’ve got to build this. You’ve gotta build that. We rely on the municipalities to build homes to make sure that they get the permits out in a timely fashion. We’ve given them every single tool possible to make sure that makes their life easier to get homes built…”
Now we are into a stream of consciousness with Ford making it up as he goes along.
We are looking at the brain behind FordNation.
Personally, I want to see the plans for the development and servicing of the ex Greenbelt lands at Bathurst purchased by the developer Michael Rice on 15 September 2022 and which include a new hospital.
I am sure the Town of Newmarket will wish to see those plans too.
Update on 7 September 2023: from the Toronto Star's Martin Reg Cohn: Doug Ford's Attack on the Greenbelt hits a new low