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Ford doubles down on plans to build on Greenbelt land in Hamilton

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(Photo Courtesy of @fordnation/Twitter).
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Premier Doug Ford is not backing away from his government’s plan to build on formerly protected Greenbelt land following the release of the Auditor General’s report.

In a press conference with Housing Minister Steve Clark in Mississauga on Friday, Ford said that no one received preferential treatment in the process of opening the Greenbelt to housing development.

This statement was made despite Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk concluding that the process was in fact biased, favouring developers with ties to the current Housing Minister.

READ MORE: Ontario invests $270K in Mississauga Streetsville housing project

Last year, the Ford government announced that it would be opening up 7,400 acres of the Greenbelt for development to reach its target of building 1.5 million homes, while adding 9,400 acres from other areas.

This decision to re-zone was made despite the fact that local planners in the affected Greater Hamilton and Toronto area.

When asked about Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath’s statement calling for the province to halt plans to build on former Greenbelt land in Hamilton, Ford pointed to what he called an empty field in the middle of housing developments.

He said that the land is “not Greenbelt” and claimed that the council put forward a request that the land be removed from Greenbelt protections. This has yet to be confirmed by Hamilton’s Council.

READ MORE: Ford asks integrity commissioner to review senior aide’s role in Greenbelt decision

The Premier’s office has since confirmed that the section of land he spoke of is located at 331 and 339 Fifty Rd.

Following the release of the report, Ford has said that the selection process was flawed and that his government would be acting on 14 out of 15 of the recommendations made by Lysyk.

However, the Premier did reject the recommendation made to re-evaluate the process of the Greenbelt re-zoning.

Ford has since made a request for the Integrity Commissioner of Ontario to review the role played by the Housing Minister’s Chief of Staff Ryan Amato in the selection process.

READ MORE: Auditor general report deems Greenbelt re-zoning ‘not necessary’

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