Gordon Prentice at Large - Politics in Newmarket
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- Written by: Gordon Prentice
On 6 April 2023 the Ford Government issued a consultation paper on land use planning designed to sweep away the impediments which prevent or restrict developers building in open countryside. A companion paper was published alongside on the “Proposed Approach to Implementation”. 
Last week, as the result of an under-reported revolt by Ontario’s farmers, Ford abandoned proposals to allow more housing on farmland. The proposed new “Provincial Planning Statement” would have required municipalities to permit more housing on farms with additional residential units and housing for farm workers.
Agricultural Odours
The farmers were not happy. They feared conflicts with non-farming neighbours would increase. Just think of the smells, the dust, the huge farm vehicles forcing highly polished SUVs off the road! The farmers believed Ford's plan would restrict future farm growth and jeopardise irreplaceable specialty crop lands.
A Joint Statement by the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) and a bewildering array of farm organisations - including the National Farmers Union-Ontario, the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario, the Ontario Broiler Hatching Egg & Chick Commission, the Beef Farmers of Ontario, Ontario Pork, the Egg Farmers of Ontario, Ontario Sheep Farmers, the Veal Farmers of Ontario, the Chicken Farmers of Ontario, the Ontario Farmland Trust, the Turkey Farmers of Ontario, the Dairy Farmers of Ontario and the Golden Horseshoe Food and Farming Alliance - demanded a rethink on a proposal which they claimed would:
"severely threaten local farmland protection."
A tonne of manure was coming Ford's way and he ducked. The proposal was removed from the consultation paper and the consultation period – which was supposed to end tomorrow (5 June 2023) has been extended to 4 August 2023.
Incoherent
This is the way the Ford Government works. Policies are not stress-tested. It's all slap-dash. Ford makes it up as he goes along. And on those rare occasions when he feels he has made a big mistake he course-corrects and says he is sorry.
Ford's consigliere, the Housing and Municipal Affairs Minister, Steve Clark, told MPPs last week, the Government intended to integrate: 
“key elements of two documents, the provincial policy statement and A Place to Grow: Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe. The reason this is so important is it would create a single, province-wide, housing-focused, land use planning policy document. We believe it’s very important for us to simplify existing policies…”
House trained
Newmarket-Aurora’s Dawn Gallagher Murphy, Ford’s faithful, fully house-trained lapdog, trilled:
“We’re streamlining land use planning policies, making policies for land use planning in Ontario easier to follow… allowing more homes to be built in rural areas; giving municipalities the flexibility to expand settlement area boundaries at any time; and making planning policies simpler and more flexible while balancing the need to protect employment lands, agriculture and the environment.”
Unknown impact
Complete tripe. She doesn't know how these policies will fully impact the environment because her own Government's consultation paper makes it crystal clear:
“natural heritage policies and related definitions remain under consideration by the government. Once proposed policies and definitions are ready for review and input, they will be made available through a separate posting on the Environmental Registry of Ontario. This posting (ERO # 019-6813) will be updated with a link to the relevant posting once it is available.”
The Implementation Plan - which is to hand - describes the Government's "approach to maintain existing Greenbelt policies":
"Should the proposed Provincial Planning Statement come into effect, there is the potential for the revocation of A Place to Grow and the changes made to the Provincial Policy Statement policies to affect the implementation of the policies in the Greenbelt Plan. To address this issue, an amendment is being proposed to the Greenbelt Plan that would indicate that the previous policies in A Place to Grow and the Provincial Policy Statement would continue to apply in those cases where the Greenbelt Plan refers to them. This would ensure that there would be no change to how the Greenbelt Plan policies are implemented if the proposed Provincial Planning Statement comes into effect.”
What on earth does all that mean?
What is simple about that?
The Greenbelt Plan contains a million references to the Growth Plan. We are told these will stay in place – even if the Provincial Planning Statement comes into effect.
Who is kidding whom?
- Details
- Written by: Gordon Prentice
Background: Southlake Regional Health Centre Chief Executive, Arden Krystal, met landowner and developer, Michael Rice, at King’s Municipal Centre on 1 November 2022. At this hugely consequential meeting Rice offered Krystal a site for a new acute hospital on Greenbelt land in King which he had purchased six weeks earlier on 15 September 2022.
In fact, Rice had been talking to Southlake about the new hospital since January 2022.
Southlake insists it has no records of what happened at that 1 November 2022 meeting which took place three days before the Government announced that it would be opening-up certain areas of the Greenbelt to development.
When King’s Mayor, Steve Pellegrini, moved a motion at Council on 7 November 2022 celebrating Michael Rice’s decision to make land available for a nominal fee, Arden Krystal asked him to make minor changes to the motion to make it “less controversial”.
For its own reasons Southlake is not telling the whole story about how it came to be offered Greenbelt land for a new hospital campus, essentially free-of-charge.
Despite this, Southlake boasts of its pride in being transparent.
Southlake's Strategy: Don’t Explain. Don’t Complain.
I have filed a series of Freedom of Information appeals with the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario to find out what really happened. But it is not easy. We only have part of the picture because Southlake's top management steadfastly refuses to tell us what they know.
Months ago, following a Freedom of Information request, I was told that Southlake had indeed received an invitation from the Chief Administrative Officer of King, Daniel Kostopolous, to the key meeting on 1 November 2022 with Michael Rice and Steve Pellegrini. But, ludicrously, Southlake is unwilling to tell me who received the invitation and when. I have filed an appeal.
Transparency: Conflicts of Interest
I also asked Southlake for sight of any declarations of conflict of interest disclosed by Board Members from 1 June 2018 – 30 September 2022 but I am told this is confidential and that it happened in a closed meeting. For that reason it will not be disclosed. There was a conflict of interest declared at the Board meeting in September 2022 but we don't know who made it nor its nature. Was it pecuniary or non-pecuniary? It is all a complete mystery. And the fact that a Conflict of Interest declaration was made is not mentioned in the meeting summary.
Hospital Board members are treated differently from elected members of municipalities. The difference is striking.
Municipalites must keep a Declaration of Interest Registry which is open to the public. Southlake, as a hospital, does not.
With municipal closed meetings the declaration of interest (but not its general nature) must be recorded in the minutes of the next meeting that is open to the public. But Southlake does not produce Minutes of Board meetings – only summaries of meetings. When Southlake Board members declare conflicts of interest these are never reported publicly.
Transparency: Minutes of Board Meetings
I have also appealed against Southlake’s refusal to let me see the minutes of Board meetings on 22 September 2022, 24 November 2022 and 26 January 2023 even when I said these should be redacted by them as they see fit.
I am told the minutes are confidential and cannot be released. Period.
Surely the offer of land for a new hospital in King for a nominal fee would have been reported back to the Board? We have no way of knowing.
All we have to go on are the skeletal Board summaries which make no reference to the offer of land. The meeting summaries do not even tell us which Board members were present.
Other hospitals in Ontario publish Board minutes, redacted where necessary.
Transparency: Land Acquisition
I also asked for sight of the background materials submitted to the Board in relation to a new Land Acquisition Sub Committee – again redacted as Southlake sees fit. The formation of the sub-committee is mentioned in the Board summary for 22 September 2022 but no other details are given.
John Dunlap, the realtor acting for Bob Schickedanz, the former President of the Ontario Home Builders Association who sold the 2.78 sq km of Greenbelt land to Michael Rice, came off the Southlake Board in September 2022.
Re-writing key planning policies
Elsewhere… Doug Ford is abandoning all pretense that he is interested in preserving the Greenbelt. His proposed Provincial Planning Statement 2023 (PPS)
“will form a single Province-wide land use planning policy document to support the achievement of Provincial housing objectives.”
A trenchant commentary from York Region says the proposed PPS will no longer restrict expansion of Greenbelt and Oak Ridges Moraine settlement areas
“potentially permitting uncontrolled expansion of these areas”.
Ford has no mandate for these changes which were never flagged up in the last election.
Back in 2018 Ford was caught on camera promising a group of developers he would open up a “big chunk” of the Greenbelt. There was a furious reaction and he did a rapid U-turn. Now he clearly believes he doesn't need to dance around the issue any more. The Greenbelt is open for business.
Natural Heritage Policies to be unveiled later
A report to Newmarket’s Committee of the Whole yesterday tells councillors the Province is reviewing natural heritage policies but these are not included in the proposed Provincial Planning Statement. There will be a separate posting on the Environmental Registry of Ontario.
This is very relevant to us in Newmarket given the Rice lands are immediately adjacent to the Town.
York Region’s Chief Planner, Paul Freeman, told me on 7 February 2023:
“Now that the (Rice) lands have been removed from the Greenbelt, presumably natural heritage features will still be protected and the official plan and zoning by-law will be amended to reflect the Province’s direction. This is necessary to enable development applications and building permits. I would anticipate the Province will be issuing a Minister’s Zoning Order to further define how development on these lands will proceed.”
Paul Freeman presumes natural heritage features will still be protected.
Personally, I think that's a big assumption to make.
Natural Heritage issues - protected lands, wildlife corridors and all the rest have been put on the back burner for the moment to allow the process to be better managed. But, at some stage, Ford will have to tell us which natural heritage features he plans to throw overboard to make more land available for sprawl.
The map below shows the Rice lands which were removed from the Greenbelt on 21 December 2022. The grey area shows land within the Oak Ridges Moraine which has now been designated a settlement area. The Rice lands still include natural heritage features which may or may not be protected. The Dunlap lands, as can be seen, contain land designated as countryside. There are other natural heritage features.
- Details
- Written by: Gordon Prentice
I see the developer who is planning to build “an elite collection of urban Townhomes” at Gorham and Muriel here in Newmarket has been accused of a $37M “cheque kiting” fraud scheme.
I feel like an innocent abroad. Cheque kiting? What on earth is that all about?
The CBC reports the home developer is facing allegations that it orchestrated a “highly sophisticated” year-long fraud" totalling over $37M.
State View Homes deny they are bankrupt.
Hmmm.
