Peter Davidson 🇨🇦

Not developers - speculators are rubbing their hands in glee. It is important to differentiate. As MR X has been recorded saying in an interview: "we don't develop the land, that's not what we do. Too much work. We just create the value." The value? Getting swishy bendy government actors to remove environmental protections. That's the value creation of Mr X and his friends. This government has been too willing an audience. #GreenbeltGrab

We are just scratching the surface of this #GreenbeltGrab. Let’s not stop shining the light on those involved, but there are more players emerging, not surprisingly. Intriguing is Mr X. Read the expose below - turns out he is a small town Mayor. Note that Mr X is relevant because his contract included a $1-million bonus if the land was removed from the Greenbelt and approved for development. We are in a ‘follow the money’ situation, here. Because there is so much money involved. #GreenbeltScandal thestar.com/news/investigati….

A note on the #GreenbeltScandal, as an urban planner. When you become the governing party, you cannot do whatever you want. You are bound by laws, regulations and policies - and there are clear processes in place for changing these policies. Land use planning is bound by the Provincial Policy Statement (PPS) in Ontario - which is a regulatory framework. For example, when a change to land use is proposed, it is necessary to demonstrate conformance with the PPS. You will often see this at the beginning of Staff Reports and at the Ontario Land Tribunal when a change is proposed - the report or the hearing begins with an analysis of whether the proposed change is in conformance. These policies and regulations exist to protect the public from Brown Envelope Planning - developers who are friends of the Premier handing the Chief of Staff of Housing Ministers envelopes outlining the land they want changed. There are processes in place to make changes. These processes, too, are outlined in the PPS. The process does not involve brown envelopes, but it does involve public consultation on the proposed change. You don’t get to change your land use because you are a friend of the Premier. Democracies with low trust in public officials quickly begin to decline. It becomes a vicious cycle. Other developers who have been following the rules quickly realize that they should instead invest in some rather inexpensive brown envelopes. Now that we know what we know, accountability matters.

Minister deletes tweet at some point around June 2022, presumably as he was in the back rooms plotting to carve up the Greenbelt, ending the steadfast commitment to protecting the Greenbelt. The deletion of this tweet reinforces that the Minister and the Premier know full well that they are no longer protecting the Greenbelt. Protestations otherwise, and the so-called swap that was meant to appease, was just smoke & mirrors shenanigans. The intention was to tear it apart.