Gordon Prentice at Large - Politics in Newmarket
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- Written by: Gordon Prentice
Frank Klees is a consultant lobbyist and a former Progressive Conservative Cabinet Minister. 
The Lobbyist Register shows that he has been involved in projects concerning the Greenbelt and in attempts to redraw its boundaries.
Fifteen years ago he told readers of the Auroran newspaper that he was proud to champion the Oak Ridges Moraine Protection Act and that the passage of this landmark legislation had taken the guesswork out of development applications in the moraine.
“Although we could not stop development that had been approved prior to the implementation of this act, more than 470,000 acres of land – much of it in York Region – are now permanently protected from development.”
Permanently protected?
Has he spoken recently to his close friend Doug Ford?
Building on the Greenbelt
One of his past clients – the Rice Group – is now embroiled in a huge controversy over its recent $80M purchase of “permanently protected” Greenbelt land in the municipality of King, west of Bathurst and immediately adjacent to Newmarket. (Right: the Greenbelt land purchased by Rice, south of Miller's sideroad between Dufferin on the west and Bathurst on the east. The Oak Ridges Moraine is shown blue).
Klees lobbied for Michael Rice’s development group from October 2019 to September 2020 but we don’t know the details.
The land purchased by Rice is largely agricultural but with core area natural heritage features. The south-western portion lies within the Oak Ridges Moraine (see map).
Klees didn’t get back to the Toronto Star when they asked what he did for his client. But why not? The whole point of the Lobbyist’s Register is to make lobbying transparent.
What are you attempting to influence or accomplish?
Klees was asked to describe his lobbying goal(s) in detail.
“What are you attempting to influence or accomplish as a result of your communications with Ontario public office holders?”
He replied opaquely:
“The objective of the communications is to brief certain Ontario public office holders on the economic development opportunities represented by a number of the client's emerging projects.”
Is that kind of waffle from Klees even remotely acceptable?
The register tells lobbyists they should give specific information about their lobbying goals and the intended outcome of the lobbying.
Whatever happened to the specifics and the intended outcome?
Why doesn’t the Integrity Commissioner just ask him?
Click "Read More" for Frank Klees' letter to the Auroran 4 September 2007
See also: From the Toronto Star: Taking Durham Land out of the Greenbelt could cause irreversible damage says Parks Canada in blunt warning
Below: The Oak Ridges Moraine. "Permanently protected from development" according to Frank Klees in 2007.
Read more: The Consultant Lobbyist Frank Klees and the Greenbelt
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- Written by: Gordon Prentice
People living in bungalows across Newmarket should know that the Town will not object to a new building going up next door which towers over their home, perhaps overlooking their property and casting shadows over it.
The Town’s Established Neighbourhoods Compatibility policy is not worth the paper it is written on. Nor the much trumpeted zoning by-laws spawned by it.
The building under construction at 116 Eden Court is 9.7 metres high and looms over its neighbours. There is no dispute about the height of the building – only how the height is measured.
The Town’s Zoning By-law allows 8.5 metres. The applicant says the building is 8.29 metres high. How is it possible to have a disagreement over the height of a building?
9.71 metres vs 8.29 metres. Surely that is a matter of fact?
It’s not so simple.
Orwellian
In an Orwellian twist, the Town says height in this case should not be measured from the finished grade, where the building meets the ground at the front of the building, to the top of the roof. Instead, we are told 116 Eden Court has a pitched roof (though it looks very flat to me) which is measured from the ground to a “ridge” invisible to the eye.
Using this formula, the official top of the roof at 116 Eden Court is 1.42 metres (or 4' 8") below the actual top of the roof that we can all see with our own eyes. My photo shows a man standing on the top of the roof.
The new house looks way too big and too bulky for its immediate surroundings.
Compatibility
The Town’s compatibility policies say:
“Where a new building is being constructed within an established neighbourhood it must be designed, massed and located to respect the predominant context.”
The Town’s planners say:
“The applicant is proposing a two-storey building in a pie shaped lot with a moderate size which respects the general characteristics of the neighbourhood and maintains its compatibity.”
And that the application complies with:
“all applicable zoning standards except for lot coverage.”
Green Light
Developers now have the green light to buy bungalows across Town and knock them down in the certain knowledge that an application for a new much bigger building, 9.7 metres high, based on the drawings submitted by the applicant at 116 Eden Court, will be approved.
For its part, the Committee of Adjustment is told by the Town it can only rule on the issue of lot coverage, not height.
And as the new building covers only a fraction more of the lot than it should – 31.5% instead of 30% - they allow construction to proceed.
Way to go!
- Details
- Written by: Gordon Prentice
Frank Klees represented Newmarket-Aurora in the Provincial Parliament for 19 years from 1995 – 2014. I’ve blogged about him over the years, most recently over his involvement with Pace Credit Union where he made a mountain of money sourcing and facilitating real estate development projects.
Three years ago Klees told the Globe and Mail: 
“As a consultant, my role was to source and facilitate real estate development projects between Pace, land owners and developers/builders… For those services, the parties with whom I had agreements were invoiced by my company for fees commensurate with the services delivered.”
At the time I wrote:
I am left wondering how many real estate development projects Klees facilitated here in Newmarket, if any. I’d love to know.”
I see from this morning’s Globe and Mail that Frank Klees was hired by the Rice Group in 2019-20 to lobby the Ford Government:
“on the economic development opportunities represented by a number of the client’s emerging projects”
What were these “emerging projects”?
The Globe and Mail says
“The contract predated Mr. Rice’s purchase of the land in King Township. Mr. Klees did not return an e-mail seeking comment.
In addition, provincial records also show that a person with the name Michael Rice has donated more than $10,500 to the PC Party since 2018. This individual also donated money to the Liberals in 2018. As well, three donors with the same names as Rice Group executives have given the PC Party thousands of dollars since 2018.”
FordNation posted this encomium about Klees on 14 February 2018: 
Longtime MPP and former provincial cabinet minister Frank Klees has announced his support for Doug Ford as the next leader of the Ontario PC Party. “We need a responsible leader that will take a stand on issues that matter to all Ontarians including lowering taxes. Doug is building a coalition of the full spectrum of conservatives strong enough to beat the Wynne Liberals, and principled enough to earn the trust of Ontario voters. He has the experience in both politics and business to put Ontario back on the road to prosperity” says Klees.
Doug is humbled to have his support. “Frank Klees is one of the great architects of Ontario’s Progressive Conservative Party. His track record as serving our Party for 19 years speaks for itself, and he is someone who worked closely alongside my father during his time at Queen’s Park. He’s someone our members have always looked up to and I am honored to have him in my corner, advising my campaign.”
What precisely did the lobbyist Frank Klees do for Michael Rice?
And for the "principled" Doug Ford?
See also from the CBC (25 November 2022) Prominent developer family linked to more Greenbelt properties slated for housing
Update on 5 December 22: Toronto Star editorial: With so many questions Greenbelt plan must stop
Update on 1 December 2022: From the Toronto Star: How to stop developers from profiting from the Greenbelt controversy and from the Globe and Mail's editorial board: Troubling questions about Doug Ford's move in to the Greenbelt
Update on 30 November 2022: From the Toronto Star: Did anyone tip off the developers?
Update on 29 November 2022: Details of Frank Klees' lobbying activities can be found here. Klees has lobbied on behalf of clients seeking changes to the boundaries of the Greenbelt. He was a consultant lobbyist with Block 21 Developers Group from November 2018 to December 2019, describing his lobbying objectives in this way:
"The client owns lands within the City of Vaughan, adjacent to the planned Kirby GO Station and is seeking an adjustment to the Greenbelt boundary to allow for the said lands to be included in the future growth plans of the Town."
Klees has lobbied for the Stronach Group:
and for Castlepoint, Greybrook Huntington Inc:
