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Premier Doug Ford's Ontario

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From...
https://twitter.com/x/status/1693030697739432179


Wonder if the "36%" cut on Envirnonment, Conservation and Parks by Doug maybe why they are taking so long to cleanup the Mimico Creek runoff from the fire last week?

See link.

Cleanup crews are trying to determine how much runoff from an industrial fire in Etobicoke a week ago has made its way into Lake Ontario, the province's environment ministry says.

The ministry has said the runoff is affecting two waterways, Mimico Creek and Humber Creek, and containment measures have been in place since August 11 in both creeks. On Friday, it said while measures along Mimico Creek were reinforced Wednesday, Thursday's rain night enabled the spill to move further down Mimico Creek.

"The rapid change in the flow levels in the creek resulting from Thursday evenings heavy rain caused a breach of the spill containment. Work is underway to restore containment at locations along Mimico Creek," the ministry said.

"Cleanup crews are verifying established containment measures along the creeks, which are being reinforced where needed."
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Ontario housing minister's chief of staff resigns following Greenbelt controversy​

From link.

Premier Doug Ford has accepted Ryan Amato's resignation effective immediately, spokesperson says​


Housing Minister Steve Clark's chief of staff has resigned after he was singled out by the Ontario auditor general for playing a key role in the province's controversial Greenbelt land swap.

"The Premier's office has accepted Ryan Amato's resignation as chief of staff to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, effective immediately," Ivana Yelich, deputy chief of staff to Premier Doug Ford, said in a statement Tuesday.

The resignation comes less than two weeks after the auditor general found the government's process for choosing sites to remove from protected Greenbelt land was influenced by a small group of well-connected developers with access to Amato.

More to come.
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From link.

64e52c9c2dc66.image.jpg

Ryan Amato was chief of staff to Ontario Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark.

Premier Doug Ford has parted ways with the political aide blamed in the $8.28-billion Greenbelt land swap controversy.

“The premier’s office has accepted Ryan Amato’s resignation as chief of staff to the minister of municipal affairs and housing, effective immediately,” Ivana Yelich, Ford’s deputy chief of staff, said in a terse statement late Tuesday.

His departure came two weeks a blistering report from auditor general Bonnie Lysyk found the aide did not adhere to the usual guardrails provided by bureaucrats and planners and personally selected 14 of the 15 parcels of protected land removed from the Greenbelt.
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That resulted in “prominent developers” getting 7,400 acres of environmentally sensitive land in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area opened up to build 50,000 homes — an $8.28-billion windfall for the landowners.

While Ford and Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark had rallied to Amato, there was pressure from Progressive Conservative MPPs and some ministers to show him the door.

Amato was not immediately available for comment.

The move came after Clark signalled a revamp for Ontario’s system of regional government following the decision to break up Peel Region.

He has set a deadline of Sept. 11 to name “facilitators” who will be sent into the fast-growing regions of Halton, York, Niagara, Waterloo and Simcoe County tasked with “reviewing the structures of local governance … to ensure they are up to the job of delivering the efficient, effective and accountable government.”
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The building of housing is a key issue, said Clark, who has set a target of 1.5 million new homes by 2031 to meet a supply crisis that has sent prices soaring.

“We know our communities must have the proper tools in place to support growth,” Clark added Tuesday at the annual convention of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) in London, where 2,000 local politicians are gathered from across the province.

The minister, stinging from a recent report by auditor general Bonnie Lysyk that found a controversial Greenbelt land swap “favoured certain developers” to the tune of $8.28 billion, acknowledged the announcement of facilitators is taking longer than he had hoped.

“We wanted to make sure the process was right,” he told the crowd. “So I want to thank you for your patience … we’re nearly there.”

Clark, who maintains he did not know his chief of staff selected the parcels of land to be removed from the Greenbelt without proper input from civil servants or land use planning experts, did not mention the protected zone in his speech.

Nor did Ford in his appearance at the convention Monday, when he announced a $1.2-billion fund to encourage municipalities to build more housing.

In the system of regional governments, municipal responsibilities are split between a region and its cities and towns, raising the possibility of bureaucratic duplication and inefficiency as they grow into each other. For example, there are concerns two layers of government can result in red tape that slows the building of housing and public transit.

Peel Region will cease to exist Jan. 1, 2025, making Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon stand-alone municipalities. Between now and then, officials will be working to untangle the regional government by figuring out how to deliver services like policing, trash collection, social services, water treatment and roads in the three municipalities.

Mississauga had long complained it covered more than its fair share of Peel’s costs, subsidizing services in Brampton and Caledon.

AMO president Colin Best, a Halton Region councillor, applauded an upcoming move by Clark to make sure a new definition of affordable housing would consider local income levels, calling it a “critical factor.”

“Any definition of affordable housing needs to consider everyone’s ability to pay the rent,” Best said in a statement.

Clark said the government is working on a definition of affordable housing “that’s genuinely affordable, but which doesn’t stand in the way of getting shovels in the ground.”

To be introduced in legislation this fall, the change would “reflect the reality of different housing markets across Ontario” and provide more clarity on when housing projects can be exempted or get discounts on development charges builders pay to municipalities to help with the cost of infrastructure, the minister added.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Sylvia Jones told the convention that the province will revert to a cost-sharing formula for local public health units in which Ontario will provide 75 per cent of the funding and municipalities 25 per cent.

The provincial portion had fallen to 70 per cent for health units, which were heavily involved in the fight against COVID-19 during the pandemic and remain on the front lines of the battle against the evolving virus.

Jones also said base funding for health units will increase by one per cent annually over the next three years “so they can more effectively plan and prepare.”

Best said the changes are “an important step toward building a more sustainable local public health system.”

Jones also said any health units that voluntarily merge with neighbouring ones to streamline operations and care for more people can expect help with “one-time funding” to get through the merger.
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Northern Light said:
A legitimate good start; but we need more than one scapegoat here.........the minister and the premier need to follow suit.
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I assume one of his developer buddies will give him a good (well-paying) job. I suppose he might as well get developer $$ directly!
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
It has been dead for awhile.

AoD
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I agree w/the above, however disappointing that may be.

But I think its important to add, that accountability in general is in decline.

'The buck stops here', however cliche, used to mean something.

That the outcome is the responsibility of the person ultimately in charge.

That didn't always require a resignation; but it always required a mea culpa (an admission of responsibility and regret)

Then, corrective action.

Its not as if denial or deflection are new; they happened before; but certainly, the frequency and baldness of such things seems to be in ascendance........

And that is for the worse.
 
No doubt that his landing will be soft. Now that he’s been relieved from the Ministry he’s most likely going to end up in the construction/developer industry. The fact that the Premier was so reluctant to let him go speaks volumes of his closeness to Amato and now whoever hires him will have almost unhindered access to Queen’s Park.

And of interest, the OPP is deciding to pass on the file to the RCMP…
 
From CP24. https://www.cp24.com/news/ford-conf...-greenbelt-amid-possible-rcmp-probe-1.6534952

Premier Doug Ford says he takes any potential criminal investigation into his government’s handling of the Greenbelt land removals “extremely serious” and is “confident” there has been no wrongdoing on the part of the province.

Earlier this week, the OPP confirmed it requested that any investigation into the Greenbelt land removals be conducted by the RCMP. According to the OPP, the file was forwarded to the RCMP in an effort to avoid “any potential perceived conflict of interest.”

Ford fielded questions about a possible investigation while speaking to reporters at Queen’s Park on Friday afternoon.

“If they (The RCMP) decide to investigate, they haven’t decided yet, but if they do, I take it very serious. Extremely serious,” the premier said.

“And I’ll have zero tolerance if there is any nonsense going on.”

So, it's goodbye Mr Clark and Mr Ford?


And then there is this from Star: https://www.thestar.com/news/invest...cle_ae3b97cc-a49c-5ed1-9a2b-fc2664080e43.html

A developer close to Doug Ford bought this farmland and got special permission to build ‘desperately needed homes.’ Then he sold a chunk for what appears to be a huge profit​

 
DSC said:
From CP24. https://www.cp24.com/news/ford-conf...-greenbelt-amid-possible-rcmp-probe-1.6534952

Premier Doug Ford says he takes any potential criminal investigation into his government’s handling of the Greenbelt land removals “extremely serious” and is “confident” there has been no wrongdoing on the part of the province.

Earlier this week, the OPP confirmed it requested that any investigation into the Greenbelt land removals be conducted by the RCMP. According to the OPP, the file was forwarded to the RCMP in an effort to avoid “any potential perceived conflict of interest.”

Ford fielded questions about a possible investigation while speaking to reporters at Queen’s Park on Friday afternoon.

“If they (The RCMP) decide to investigate, they haven’t decided yet, but if they do, I take it very serious. Extremely serious,” the premier said.

“And I’ll have zero tolerance if there is any nonsense going on.”

So, it's goodbye Mr Clark and Mr Ford?


And then there is this from Star: https://www.thestar.com/news/invest...cle_ae3b97cc-a49c-5ed1-9a2b-fc2664080e43.html

A developer close to Doug Ford bought this farmland and got special permission to build ‘desperately needed homes.’ Then he sold a chunk for what appears to be a huge profit​

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Naw.... He'll call someone a thug or scum of the earth and fluff it off. BUT we can remain hopeful that the Conservative party wakes up and concludes Ford might be a big liability and they never got to profit from said deals.... OH wait how much did they contribute to their coffers? I am hopeful that with the next election that those who didn't bother to vote in the last one, wake up and carefully examine their choices other than the Cons.
 
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