Gordon Prentice at Large - Politics in Newmarket
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- Written by: Gordon Prentice
Luca Bucci, the former Chief of Staff to Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister, Steve Clark, and now Chief Executive of the Ontario Home Builders Association (OMBA), told "industry leaders" in a state of the union address on 24 April this year that they were now shaping Government policy.
At the home builders' dinner Bucci boasted:
“We helped the government create and implement Bill 23. We employed a province-wide advocacy campaign that we pulled together in five days.
We completed 29 consultations and submissions on Bill 23 in a little over a month.
We have achieved changes in the interest rate treatments for deposits under the Condominium Act.
We have helped expand urban boundaries in Hamilton, Ottawa, in Waterloo region and other areas of the province in the face of incredible opposition. (Applause) Thank you. (Prolonged applause)
We achieved comprehensive changes to development charge regimes.
We ended site plan requirements for sites at ten units or less which is a big win for our small to medium sized members.
We froze parkland rates on the date that zoning bylaw our site plan application is filed.
We eliminated public meetings that were unnecessary on issues of draft plan and subdivision and we worked with the government to allow for three residential units as of right on most land zoned for residential development without even a municipal by-law amendment.”
Click “read more” below” for the text of the speech.
Before joining the OHBA in April 2022, Bucci served as Chief of Staff to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing from January 2021 until April 2022. He joined the OBHA when Bob Schickedanz was its President. Schickedanz sold the Greenbelt lands in King to developer Michael Rice for $80M on 15 September 2022. The lands were removed from the Greenbelt on 21 December 2022.
See also: Timeline: Southlake and the Sale of the Greenbelt lands in King and The new Southlake was planned to be built on Greenbelt land owned by developer Michael Rice and former hospital Board member John Dunlap
Who’s Who
Bob Schickedanz: Former President of the Ontario Home Builders Association and Principal of Schickedanz Bros who sold the Greenbelt land in King on 15 September 2022.
John Dunlap: the real estate broker acting for Schickedanz and a member of the Southlake Board until September 2022.
Michael Rice: A developer and President of Green Lane Bathurst GP Inc which bought the land.
Luca Bucci: the former Chief of Staff to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing who served from January 2021 until April 2022 when he joined the Ontario Home Builders Association as its Chief Executive.
Steve Clark: The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing who announced on 4 November 2022 that certain specified parcels of Greenbelt land – including the lands in King owned by Rice - would be opened up for development.
Steve Pellegrini: Four term Mayor of King Township who was given a commitment by Michael Rice at an in-person meeting on 1 November 2022 that portions of the Greenbelt land in King would be offered to Southlake Regional Heath Centre for a “nominal fee”. Southlake’s CEO, Arden Krystal, and Vice President, John Marshman, were present.
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- Written by: Gordon Prentice
On 17 April 2023 the Auditor General contacted the developer Michael Rice asking him to attend for interview in connection with:
"an audit looking at the recent changes to the Greenbelt and their economic implications, including their effect on Ontario's housing goals."
On 27 June 2023 the Auditor General issued a summons requiring him to attend her offices and be examined under oath.
On 5 July 2023 Rice made an application to the Superior Court of Justice requesting the Court to quash the summons. You can read the application in its entirety by clicking "read more" below.
Lawyers for Rice say he will swear an affidavit (which we do not yet have) which will be presented along with other documentary evidence at the hearing of the application.
We do not know when that will be.
In the light of this, it will surprise me if the Auditor General is able to pull everything together by September 2023 - as the Auditor General's Office has indicated.
Bonnie Lysyk's ten year term as Auditor General ends on 2 September 2023.
Michael Rice bought the Greenbelt land in King from Bob Schickedanz on 15 September 2022 for $80M. Schickedanz is a former President of the Ontario Home Builders Association whose Chief Executive is Luca Bucci who previously worked as Chief of Staff for Steve Clark, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. The land agent who facilitated the sale, John Dunlap, was, at the time, a member of the Southlake Board. He owns land adjacent to the Rice lands.
See also: Timeline: Southlake and the sale of the Greenbelt lands in King and The new Southlake was planned to be built on Greenbelt land owned by developer Michael Rice and former hospital Board member John Dunlap
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- Written by: Gordon Prentice
The Toronto Star reports this evening that prominent developers say the auditor general’s demand for records and interviews are vague and overreach her authority. 
Michael Rice is one of them. (photo right)
He bought a huge 2.8 sq km block of Greenbelt land in King from Bob Schickedanz, the former President of the Ontario Home Builders Association, for $80M on 15 September 2022.
On 1 November 2022 he offered some of that land to Southlake for a new acute hospital for a nominal fee.
That was three days before the Government announced it would be allowing development in cerrtain areas of the Greenbelt - including the Rice lands.
The Ford Government removed the Rice lands from the Greenbelt on 21 December 2022.
The Toronto Star article is here.
Numerous witnesses
Ontario’s Integrity Commissioner, David Wake, told us in March that he was prepared to summon “numerous witnesses” to find out if anyone had inside information about the removal of land from the Greenbelt and profited as a result.
At the time I called for those summonsed to be questioned under oath.
Cut the ****
Here marketing strategist Melissa Schenk teams up with Bob Schickedanz to tell us it is time to cut the **** and build more homes. They don't say that thousands of planning approvals have been granted all over Ontario, sometimes decades ago, but developers refuse to build.
Update on 13 July 2023: From the CBC. Michael Rice and the Auditor General. And from the Toronto Star: Doug Ford criticizes Auditor General over Greenbelt investigation.
See also: Timeline: Southlake and the sale of the Greenbelt lands in King