and his top ministers got an earful from members of the Rural Ontario Municipal Association on Monday, as mayors and councillors from small communities raised concerns about the province’s housing plan and its move to allow development on parts of the protected Greenbelt.
Colin Best, president of AMO and a regional councillor in Halton, west of Toronto, earned widespread applause both when he called on the province to “fully offset” the losses municipalities could see from Bill 23 and when he said fast-tracking housing while skimping on environmental regulation was a “false economy.”
Mr. Ford defended his government in a speech, saying more needs to be done to meet the province’s goal of building 1.5 million new homes by 2031. The government’s move to allow housing on parts of the protected Greenbelt attracted a noon-hour protest of about 100 sign-waving environmentalists outside the hotel. The Opposition NDP’s next leader, Marit Stiles, told the crowd her party will fight the Greenbelt changes and would cancel the move if elected in 2026.
Do you really think that bully cares?