Premier Doug Ford's Ontario

[Thinker]

Just to remind everyone:

 

[Dan416]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-caledon-mzo-greenbelt-1.6946441

It doesn't look like anyone posted this so just bringing it forward. At least there's some backtracking.

 

[W. K. Lis]

The late Bob Baker (died yesterday at 99 years old) would be against what Doug Ford allowed back in June. Even though Doug's mentor, Mike Harris, halted it...

'Terrorized to death': Animal advocates call for ban on dog hunting enclosures in Ontario​

From link.

An animal advocacy group is calling for dog hunting enclosures to be banned in Ontario, arguing that an investigation—which includes hidden camera video footage—found hunters allegedly participating in “cruel” practices that left both prey and predator with injuries.

In June, the Doug Ford government passed an omnibus bill that, among other things, would allow for more fenced-in train and trial areas in the province.

Licensing was halted by the Progressive Conservative Mike Harris government about two decades ago; however 24 enclosures remain in effect in Ontario.

The enclosures allow hunting dogs to track wildlife like coyotes, foxes or rabbits across relatively large, fenced-in spaces.

“The truth is that coyotes are terrified by these chases, of being pursued by bloodthirsty dogs,” Camille Labchuk, Executive Director of Animal Justice, told CTV News Toronto.

Animal Justice, a non-profit organization that lobbies for stronger animal protection laws, began their own investigation into these enclosures in the spring. One of their members went undercover to one of the train-and-trial areas in eastern Ontario and witnessed a competitive event in which multiple hunting dogs were set loose on coyotes in hopes of winning prizes.

The faces of the hunters were blurred in the video and names were not used. They also did not reveal the name of the licensed hunting area.

In the graphic 10-minute video, groups of dogs are seen running through forested areas within the enclosure to track down coyotes. Judges are placed throughout the enclosure to count how many times dogs are actively participating in the chase.

“Dogs catch em’ all through the year,” one event participant said in the video. “Once they get after ‘em they smoke their ass.”

That same participant can be heard on camera saying numerous coyotes are killed a week, and that even more wildlife in the area is injured.

In one part of the video, Animal Justice share video and photographs from private Facebook groups showing coyotes being mauled by dogs within these penned areas. In one frame, an owner is seen encouraging two dogs to “get her” while a bloody and already injured coyote lays helpless on the ground.

There were also photographs of dogs that had been injured in the pursuit of coyotes.

“These hunting pens are not just cruel to the coyotes who are captured, they're also sucking wild animals out of the biodiversity of this province, and putting them in pens where they can’t interact normally with the rest of the population,” Labchuck said.

“And then they're terrorized to death.”

In a letter to the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry sent this week, Animal Justice called for the ban of these facilities.

“I think what's very clear from the footage and from whistleblowers, and from everything we know about pen dog hunting is that there is no way to do this humanely,” Labchuck added.

The letter says that while they would ordinarily recommend alternatives, such as more robust licensing and oversight, this would not address the psychological harm caused to wildlife or the transport of animals to the enclosure.

A spokesperson for the ministry said that conservation officers inspect train and trial facilities to ensure they meet strict requirements, and will not hesitate to issue fines.

“The ministry cannot verify the origin of the media content that was shared, including whether it originated from a licensed train and trial facility in Ontario,” Melissa Candelaria wrote in a statement.

“We encourage anyone with any information to report it to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry tip line or their local district office.”

However two former Ontario conservation officers told The Canadian Press in May that any legislation governing these training facilities are largely unenforceable. They reported hunters catching coyotes daily, and many of them were killed.

Both of these individuals also called for the banning of train and trial areas.

Under the new legislation, the Progressive Conservatives will repeal the freeze on new licences and set a one-time 90-day window in which new applicants can submit their requests. Operators will also have the opportunity to transfer licences to others, something not previously allowed.

In a statement to CTV News Toronto, Kirsten Snoek, Wildlife Biologist with the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH) said the actions and words of people interviewed in the Animal Justice video “require a deeper investigation by law enforcement.”

“It is not a part of hunting to show disrespect to game animals, nor is it an acceptable part of hunting to physically abuse or prematurely end the life of your hunting dog. These types of behaviours are exceptions to the rule, and should be blamed on the individual, not the activity,” she said.

“Any contraventions should be prosecuted.”

Snoek said that while OFAH supports the government’s decision to expand licensing for these pens, they have also long called for more conservation officers and an investment into greater enforcement of train and trial areas.

“Proper use of TTAs is a responsible way to train dogs to ethically pursue legal game in fair chase environments,” they said. “A true representation of a hunter is someone who shows respect towards all forms of life and complies with regulations governing their activities.”

The Ontario Sporting Dog Association (OSDA), meanwhile, said they were "deeply disappointed to see the highly edited video released by Animal Justice."

President John Bell said in a statement the video mischaracterizes the sport and its commitment to animal welfare.

"Trialing and training enclosures are designed specifically for sporting dog breeds. They are safe and controlled environments for dogs to learn how to track scent for hunting in the field," he said.

"The OSDA is working collaboratively with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry to strengthen the already high standards of care and operation of these facilities.”

Animal advocates have argued that dogs can be trained to hunt using scent drags, which would eliminate the need for wildlife within the enclosure. The ministry has not said if they would consider a ban on the facilities, or the use of alternatives to wildlife within them.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Crossposted in the Highway 413 thread at this link.

And so it continues...

Ontario keeping costs of Highway 413 hidden from public​

Transport ministry estimates of how much it will cost taxpayers, and who will benefit, from building Highway 413 is being kept secret.

From link.

Opening-up thousands of acres of protected Greenbelt lands will be an $8 billion win for a small group of land developers close to government officials, says the provincial auditor general.
But the Greenbelt land carve-out isn’t the only mega land deal the Ford government is cooking-up.

At the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO), officials are in overdrive to kick-start building the 60-kilometer Highway 413 through much of the GTA’s last remaining nearby open countryside. And that means hefty cheques could soon be issued to the owners of well over 2,000 hectares of prime farmland along the highway’s path.

Government records show that many of those cheques may go to a select group of land speculators and property developers who’ve been buying up these lands in recent years, spurring a huge increase in land values along the highway corridor,

According to a January 2022 assessment for the MTO released under the provincial freedom of information law, “large developers have begun assembling parcels” all along the proposed highway corridor.
Amidst this speculative feeding frenzy, the “real estate pricing is highly volatile” along 413’s path, the assessment noted.

“The price of agricultural land through the corridor has gone up at a logarithmic scale,” explained Jim Dyment, a land cost consultant working for MTO, in a Jan. 28, 2022 email to officials that MTO released under the provincial freedom of information law.

But just how much MTO estimates these purchases will cost taxpayers and just which land speculators and property developers will get them, is something government lawyers are keeping secret.

Their reasoning? Because the Highway 413 construction cost estimates — including estimated property acquisition amounts — may have been discussed around Premier Doug Ford’s cabinet table, they qualify as state secrets and have been redacted from all information released under the freedom of information law.

That’s the message Dina Anderson, a lawyer for transportation minister Caroline Mulroney, recently sent to Ontario’s information and privacy commissioner in response to an appeal for greater government transparency about the cost of the 413.

When pressed further to justify the government’s wall of secrecy in the face of the clearly compelling public interest in knowing the size of the payout to developers, speculators and other landowners, Mulroney’s lawyers doubled down and insisted that the “compelling public interest” in knowing these costs cannot override cabinet secrecy.

And when pressed further to justify their secrecy, Mulroney’s lawyers said the details of their reasonings were, you guessed it, secret.

At this point, members of the public are forgiven for abandoning hope of puncturing the government’s obsessive secrecy. But the public has a right to know how much these land parcels will cost and who will be getting paid for them. And despite the MTO’s secretiveness, it’s still not unimaginable the public will find out.

With help from the information commissioner, in recent months the MTO has been compelled to lift the lid on a couple of key financial facts relating to the Highway 413 that it originally kept secret in its freedom of information releases.

After years of refusing to disclose any estimates for the highway’s construction costs, under pressure from the information commissioner, the MTO recently revealed that just one kilometre-long section of the highway spanning the Humber River could cost as much as $444 million.

And after years of refusing to release the cost figures for the ongoing 16-year environmental assessment of the highway, again under pressure from the information commissioner, the MTO recently revealed it has spent at least $36.5 million on the study.

As to the secrecy of the rest of the government’s cost estimates for the 413 — including the dollar figures on all those big cheques land speculators and developers are salivating over — it’s possible the information commissioner will now further step-up the fight for transparency.

Thanks to the huge attention the Greenbelt land scandal is attracting, the case of full disclosure regarding Highway 413 land costs seems to be growing more compelling by the day.

 

[Admiral Beez]

And of interest, the OPP is deciding to pass on the file to the RCMP…

Hopefully the RCMP will call in Amato, along with De Gasperis, Michael Rice, Perez-Hassaf, Wang and the other big developers for questioning.

Amato out, RCMP in: Greenbelt scandal continues to escalate

The fiasco's first casualty and a transfer of investigatory authority between police feed the already red-hot controversy

www.thetrillium.ca

Per the below, Amato has just lawyered up, and if he senses he’s been thrown under the bus maybe he’ll talk.

RYAN AMATO TRIES TO CLEAR HIS NAME AS PC SOURCES INSIST HE WAS NOT FORCED TO RESIGN: TORONTO STAR

Was Ryan Amato forced to resign or did he resign on his own? A Toronto Star report Thursday...

www.zoomerradio.ca

And kudos to Ontario’s indigenous people.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/chiefs-of-ontario-greenbelt-vote-1.6949826

 

[Thinker]

Hopefully the RCMP will call in Amato, along with De Gasperis, Michael Rice, Perez-Hassaf, Wang and the other big developers for questioning.

Amato out, RCMP in: Greenbelt scandal continues to escalate

The fiasco's first casualty and a transfer of investigatory authority between police feed the already red-hot controversy

www.thetrillium.ca

Per the below, Amato has just lawyered up, and if he senses he’s been thrown under the bus maybe he’ll talk.

RYAN AMATO TRIES TO CLEAR HIS NAME AS PC SOURCES INSIST HE WAS NOT FORCED TO RESIGN: TORONTO STAR

Was Ryan Amato forced to resign or did he resign on his own? A Toronto Star report Thursday...

www.zoomerradio.ca

And kudos to Ontario’s indigenous people.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/chiefs-of-ontario-greenbelt-vote-1.6949826

Yes kudos to Ontario’s Indigenous people. Makes sense Amato has lawyered up, he’s been blamed and made the rogue employee.
As for the OPP handing off the case to the RCMP? I have it from a good source that Thomas Carrique the OPP chief, is totally solid and not a family friend of Ford, and totally impartial, acknowledging he is a provincial force and doesn’t want to investigate a very complicated case and wants to remain neutral.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Thomas Carrique the OPP chief, is totally solid and not a family friend of Ford, and totally impartial, acknowledging he is a provincial force and doesn’t want to investigate a very complicated case and wants to remain neutral.

I never want my police to remain neutral. There are two sides to Law and Order: criminal perpetrators and innocent victims. Who wants their police to be neutral between these two sides? Get the perps, protect the victims.

 

[Jonny5]

Uh oh! Breaking news this morning and it's getting worse!

Developers tried to sell Greenbelt properties amid ongoing government discussions, Ford says

Premier Doug Ford says his government is considering placing two properties back into the Ontario Greenbelt after it was discovered that developers quietly listed the land for sale while discussions were still ongoing.

toronto.ctvnews.ca

The properties, located at 765 and 775 Kingston Road East in Ajax, Ont., were selected for extraction from the Greenbelt in 2022 and, at some point during the 30-day consultation process, listed for sale by developers, Ford said in a statement issued Tuesday morning.
”At no point was the intention to sell disclosed to the government’s facilitator during active and ongoing discussions,” Ford said in the statement.

So they bought the land, got Ford to remove it from the Greenbelt so they could "build housing", but instead they immediately put it up for sale, or even worse they apparently put it up for sale before the land was even officially removed from the Greenbelt in anticipation of making a super quick buck with their insider knowledge he was going to do it.

 

[Richard White]

I never want my police to remain neutral. There are two sides to Law and Order: criminal perpetrators and innocent victims. Who wants their police to be neutral between these two sides? Get the perps, protect the victims.

True but this is Ontario's version of State Troopers.

If the OPP investigates the provincial government, it could appear as a conflict of interest. Having the RCMP involved takes any implications of bias out of the equation and if an appeal is made they cannot say the force was in bed with their employer.

 

[Thinker]

I never want my police to remain neutral. There are two sides to Law and Order: criminal perpetrators and innocent victims. Who wants their police to be neutral between these two sides? Get the perps, protect the victims.

The OPP is provincial, the chief is totally within his rights wanting to avoid a conflict, probably knowing that some of his officers may not be impartial. Getting the perps in criminal cases that do not involve the Government that the OPP serves is different, not all OPP officers might be impartial. So glad Tavener is not the Chief, because we all know it would have totally compromised.

 

[lenaitch]

I never want my police to remain neutral. There are two sides to Law and Order: criminal perpetrators and innocent victims. Who wants their police to be neutral between these two sides? Get the perps, protect the victims.

It might be a matter of semantics. Proper police work follows the law and evidence and if evidence leads to a "criminal perpetrator", the matter is turned over to the courts.

The OPP has investigated many government officials (including ministers) and employees at both the provincial and municipal level over the years- it's part of their mandate. Municipal government level investigations typically come from a request by the local police service. I don't know the Commissioner's thinking, but I would suspect that he decided that this is very closely linked to 'The Centre' and the optics would be better if another service was asked to step in.

The police call call anyone in for an interview; and said anyone can say 'no thanks'.

 

[Admiral Beez]

If the OPP investigates the provincial government, it could appear as a conflict of interest.

How are such conflicts of interest handled federally? Is there a service above the RCMP that investigates the Federal government?

How far can one pass the buck in policing?

 

[lenaitch]

The OPP is provincial, the chief is totally within his rights wanting to avoid a conflict, probably knowing that some of his officers may not be impartial. Getting the perps in criminal cases that do not involve the Government that the OPP serves is different, not all OPP officers might be impartial. So glad Tavener is not the Chief, because we all know it would have totally compromised.

I highly doubt the concern of impartiality is an issue. Investigations this complex involve many members, managed by Det. Sgts. overseen by a senior lead investigator at the Inspector level and typically an assigned lawyer from MAG to provide legal advice. It's not like TV. Being involved in major criminal investigations is a result of years of experience and training. Although we all have our biases, I doubt that would become a factor. I doubt every member of the TPS loves Chow, and every Mountie Trudeau, but you are expected to be a professional. To do otherwise would invite jeopardy.

 

[T3G]

I never want my police to remain neutral. There are two sides to Law and Order: criminal perpetrators and innocent victims. Who wants their police to be neutral between these two sides? Get the perps, protect the victims.

There is a universe of difference between being neutral between criminals and victims, and political neutrality. History is filled with bungled investigations and witch hunts, which would not have gone the way they had if the encumbent police force was politically neutral.

 

[Richard White]

How are such conflicts of interest handled federally? Is there a service above the RCMP that investigates the Federal government?

How far can one pass the buck in policing?

I suspect they would farm it out to either CSIS or a lower service like the OPP.

During the Sponsorship scandal, they had a Royal Commission put in place with Justice John Gomery as its head. This was because various Ministers and 2 Prime Ministers were potentially involved.