Remember how canceling the gas plant was such a big deal? I bet the apologists will be out in force explaining how the fact that we are on the hook for this abjectly corrupt effort to transfer billions of dollars of unearned benefit to Ford’s wealthy developer friends/donors is, “ToTaLlY dIfFeReNt.”

  • AutoTL;DRBEnglish
    1•9 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:

    Last month, Premier Doug Ford apologized to Ontarians and walked back the government’s decision to remove 2,995 hectares of protected land from the Greenbelt to pave the way for housing development.

    The stunning flip-flop came after public outcry and separate inquiries from both the province’s integrity commissioner and auditor general revealed major flaws with the process.

    The protected agricultural land soared in value to about $8.3 billion after last November’s initial Greenbelt opening announcement, Ontario’s auditor general found in his report.

    Ford sidestepped questions last month about what the legal ramifications of the reversal might be, but Gilbert said he can see the government justify not paying anything by leaning into the fact that not much development has happened yet.

    Still, Trevor Farrow, dean of York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School, said developers could try to hold the provincial government liable for money spent on architects, designers and other experts hired to map out prospective builds.

    Even if developers feel confident they can make a case for bad faith, Forristal says the Greenbelt Act itself will be tricky to navigate as the it has not allowed for any claims, compensations or damages to date.

    The original article contains 805 words, the summary contains 193 words. Saved 76%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!