Dear Editor:
RE: Two down, one to go, Sept. 7.
Advertiser publisher Dave Adsett was right on the mark that, following the resignations of staffer Ryan Amato and then Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark, Doug Ford also needs to resign over his government’s Greenbelt betrayal.
While the Greenbelt betrayal is sufficient reason for Ford’s resignation, let’s not forget his attack on development charges, which benefits no one except Ford’s developer cronies. If developers don’t have to pay all their development charges, the costs of development will be shifted to the rest of us – the taxpayers.
It doesn’t end there either. Ford has undermined the conservation of built heritage in the province through changes to the Heritage Act. No one benefits from that except Ford’s developer cronies.
Ford has also undermined community planning in the province by practically forcing municipalities to approve development schemes, no matter how opposed the local community is and no matter how detrimental the development scheme is. It is now much more difficult for local communities to appeal bad land use decisions. No one benefits from that except Ford’s developer cronies.
On top of which Ford has undermined the definition of affordable housing, thereby making it easier for developers to build housing under the guise that it is affordable. Again, no one benefits from that except Ford’s developer cronies.
So if I hear the lie one time that this is all about providing affordable housing or even housing in general, I think I may be sick. Talk about creating a crisis.
There is more than enough land already identified to meet residential housing needs. The Greenbelt lands are not required for that purpose, nor are all the other changes that only benefit Ford’s developer cronies.
Dan Kennaley,
Rockwood