Premier Doug Ford's Ontario

[lenaitch]

The legislation introduced by the government includes a prohibition on suing the government in respect of this decision.

In general, government cannot be sued for public policy decisions, but can in some cases of malfeasance.

The gov't bills preclude even that.

I could see those bills being challenged on that basis; but it would be a very expensive legal fight; and its likely one that even other parties would uphold; so I'm not sure how many will want to go there.

The gov't has any number of tools at its disposal to penalize what it sees as problem actors; so I would think there may be some reticence there.

Edit to add:

There is actually one lawsuit over the original McGuinty Greenbelt, that's been ongoing for ages........

The gov't bill specifically identifies that lawsuit and quashes it.

I'm not sure if that's a legal first, but its certainly very rare.

Enacting legislation that holds themselves harmless has become a bit of a favourite go-to for several governments in the past few years. I would love to see it constitutionally tested but, as you say, not cheap. It maybe more of an attractive option for developers with deeper pockets but it might leave them vulnerable to revelations of 'insider trading'.

Governments having the common law right to freely govern has limits, we just don't know what they are in all cases.

 

[old boy]

Enacting legislation that holds themselves harmless has become a bit of a favourite go-to for several governments in the past few years. I would love to see it constitutionally tested but, as you say, not cheap. It maybe more of an attractive option for developers with deeper pockets but it might leave them vulnerable to revelations of 'insider trading'.

Governments having the common law right to freely govern has limits, we just don't know what they are in all cases.

How many ways can I sue thee, let me count the ways...

 

[Admiral Beez]

Marit Stiles is also getting looks from people who wouldn't otherwise vote NDP. Don't count them out just yet.

She booted out the rogue antisemite from her caucus. It took a week longer than it should have, but Stiles gets my respect for doing the right thing. It was too much for me seeing our own little Kristallnacht outside Jewish-owned businesses these past two weeks. The NDP at both provincial and federal levels seems to struggle with antisemitism within their ranks, and I can’t support Doug and his corruption; so I‘m going to support Crombie and the OLP in the next election.

 

[adma]

She booted out the rogue antisemite from her caucus. It took a week longer than it should have, but Stiles gets my respect for doing the right thing. It was too much for me seeing our own little Kristallnacht outside Jewish-owned businesses these past two weeks. The NDP at both provincial and federal levels seems to struggle with antisemitism within their ranks, and I can’t support Doug and his corruption; so I‘m going to support Crombie and the OLP in the next election.

As do all such "left" parties, cf Jeremy Corbyn in the UK. At least the ONDP isn't *led* by a Corbyn type.

 

[adma]

There’s an ‘article’ in The Star about this, but it doesn’t add much more, sadly:

Doug Ford government to scrap municipal boundary changes after Greenbelt scandal

Premier Doug Ford is scrapping planned changes to municipal boundaries in a flip-flop related to the $8.28-billion Greenbelt land swap scandal.

www.thestar.com

Maybe they’ll update it over the day.

What I find interesting (and maybe telling, about modern-day perceptions) is the apparent confusion btw/*urban* boundaries and *municipal* boundaries. The former relates more to zoning; the latter relates to jurisdiction i.e. the proverbial "city limits". Municipal boundaries = all those annexations the City of Toronto underwent into the 1910s; "urban boundaries" take into account the early c20 sprawl into the surrounding townships which Toronto never saw fit to annex (until Harris forced the issue in '97, of course).

 

[allengeorge]

What I find interesting (and maybe telling, about modern-day perceptions) is the apparent confusion btw/*urban* boundaries and *municipal* boundaries.

You know, I actually didn’t pick up on that. I mentally rewrote ‘municipal’ to ‘urban’ given how closely I followed the Hamilton boundary saga.

FWIW, I’m glad the urban boundaries were rolled back. It’s now on the cities to actually step up. I must admit: I’m skeptical they will.

 

[Admiral Beez]

What I find interesting (and maybe telling, about modern-day perceptions) is the apparent confusion btw/*urban* boundaries and *municipal* boundaries. The former relates more to zoning; the latter relates to jurisdiction i.e. the proverbial "city limits". Municipal boundaries = all those annexations the City of Toronto underwent into the 1910s; "urban boundaries" take into account the early c20 sprawl into the surrounding townships which Toronto never saw fit to annex (until Harris forced the issue in '97, of course).

Looks to me like the Ontario government is taking their marbles and going home, refusing to do anything on development, boundaries, zoning, etc. So, we essentially have no provincial level decision making body until the 2026 election?

 

[DSC]

Looks to me like the Ontario government is taking their marbles and going home, refusing to do anything on development, boundaries, zoning, etc. So, we essentially have no provincial level decision making body until the 2026 election?

Don't worry - the Ontario Land tribunal will continue over-ruling local planning decisions as before.

 

[adma]

Looks to me like the Ontario government is taking their marbles and going home, refusing to do anything on development, boundaries, zoning, etc. So, we essentially have no provincial level decision making body until the 2026 election?

Re actual municipalities and boundaries: is the apparent dissolution of Peel Region or other threatened "mega-amalgamations" off the table? (Besides, it's more like Mike Harris did most of the dirty work on that front, and Ford's concerns have been more w/laying a pipe bomb beneath municipal councils. Like, he'd rather abolish *all* municipalities and place them all under a provincial caretaker)

 

[lenaitch]

Looks to me like the Ontario government is taking their marbles and going home, refusing to do anything on development, boundaries, zoning, etc. So, we essentially have no provincial level decision making body until the 2026 election?

From what we've seen on action, many will welcome inaction.

 

[zang]

Re actual municipalities and boundaries: is the apparent dissolution of Peel Region or other threatened "mega-amalgamations" off the table? (Besides, it's more like Mike Harris did most of the dirty work on that front, and Ford's concerns have been more w/laying a pipe bomb beneath municipal councils. Like, he'd rather abolish *all* municipalities and place them all under a provincial caretaker)

With Crombie running for liberal leadership tonight; it makes me wonder if Ford might axe the dissolution of Peel just to spite her.

 

[allengeorge]

With Crombie running for liberal leadership tonight; it makes me wonder if Ford might axe the dissolution of Peel just to spite her.

I would LOL so hard at that. I am not a Crombie fan.

 

[afransen]

From what we've seen on action, many will welcome inaction.

Victory of the NIMBYs and BANANAs.

 

[Sunnyside]

Looks to me like the Ontario government is taking their marbles and going home, refusing to do anything on development, boundaries, zoning, etc. So, we essentially have no provincial level decision making body until the 2026 election?

I think it’s solely on the “sprawl” front. They definitely aren’t going to roll back anything they’ve done on the density file for instance. Clearly the public’s palate for more sprawl at the expense of the greenbelt isn’t really there- and maybe the PCs didn’t count on that.

On conflation between urban boundary/municipal boundaries being conflated, I think I’ve seen more people conflating (or at least equating) Hamilton’s urban boundary expansion with its simultaneous greenbelt removal.

 

[lenaitch]

Victory of the NIMBYs and BANANAs.

Or possibly, I don't know, competent governance and leadership?