I think the mayor is a good person. I have to sit down and ask her what the problem is.

By Pepper Parr

August 10th, 2023

BURLINGTON, ON

Premier Doug Ford stood before the cameras for more than an hour and did his best to get his version of how different pieces of land were taken out of the Greenbelt boundary and sold to developers – he was fighting an uphill battle.

Whenever he could he would deflect or pass the question over to his Minister of Housing Steve Clarke. Or bring up a different topic – anything to take the heat off the process that was used to select which lands would be taken out of the Greenbelt and be made available for building homes.

At one point he took a shot at Burlington saying:

I’m going to point out one city and it’s not fair to the rest of the province of the burden of going through this falls on every other big city and that jurisdiction is Burlington.

They’ve been allocated 29,000 new homes. So far all they have built is 208 residences. That’s 5%
The minimum for some communities might be 29%. So it’s not fair to the rest of the province. That there’s a delay in Burlington is totally unacceptable.

Premier Ford: I think the mayor is a good person. I have to sit down and ask her what the problem is.

Asked: What are you thinking there? The Premier responded with: “Well, we’re gonna sit down … I think the mayor is a good person. I have to sit down and ask her what the problem is. Adding “But what the mayor can do is start diverting the attention from the homebuilders. They are doing their job. I’m sorry, there’s 28 other large cities all pretty close to hitting their targets.

“There’s no excuses when someone wants something done, like the mayor of Barrie or the Mayor of Brantford.”

The media event ended at 2:08 pm. At 5:30 Mayor Meed Ward issued a statement.

“We share the deep concerns of all Ontarians in the independent findings of the Auditor General’s (AG) report released today, identifying serious failings related to Greenbelt lands removed for development.

“The AG has confirmed no Greenbelt land is required to meet our housing crisis. The City of Burlington has always maintained this position. We have unanimously voted to protect our Greenbelt and urban boundaries, embedding it in our City’s Strategic Plan. The majority of Halton Regional Council also voted against
Greenbelt expansion to meet housing targets. We can achieve our housing goals within our urban boundaries.

“The provincial government has much work ahead to restore trust, transparency, and confidence in the development process and decision-making around meeting the housing targets. The Province’s commitment to implement 14 of the 15 recommendations from the AG report and cooperate with the Integrity Commissioner investigation are steps in the right direction.

“We have joined the Province and municipalities across Ontario in acknowledging we are in a housing crisis Premier Ford: and committed to doing our part as a municipality. However, that housing crisis should not be provided as a reason to cut corners on fairness, accountability, and transparency in development.

“We continue to stand as a willing partner with both the federal and provincial governments, development industry, non-profit housing providers and others, to enable new housing construction in a way that is open, transparent, and accountable to the community we serve. In fact, we believe that’s the only way to deliver housing, at any time, but especially in a crisis.

“Municipalities know best where we can accommodate housing. We are ready to do our part and already have a plan to where we can accommodate housing in Burlington. That is around our three GO stations,aging retail plazas, growth centres and major corridors – all identified in our new Official Plan that was developed and vetted through an open, transparent, and fully-public community process.

“We are aware that numbers related to housing being built in Burlington were mentioned in today’s news presser. Those numbers are from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation; however, they do not tell the whole story of how many developments are actually underway in Burlington. We will have more to say on this.

“Burlington Council has unanimously accepted our pledge to issue 29,000 permits by 2031, and our City already has 25,000 units and growing in the development pipeline. We are willing to work with the development industry to help enable them to get shovels in the ground.

“Everyone in this process has a unique and complementary role to play. The federal government sets national building code and immigration policies. The provincial government sets planning policy tools. Municipalities determine where growth and housing are best suited for our communities and issue permits. The developers build the units. Not one of us is to blame for the housing crisis and not one of us can solve it alone – we all must work together. Burlington has always been willing to do our part, in partnership with others.

“In all our actions, we must demonstrate the highest level of accountability and integrity to the public we serve – ensuring an open, fair and transparent process for all.”

Prior to issuing the statement she was on CHCH television explaining that the city had 25,000 units in the pipeline

Earlier in the hour long press conference the Premier said: “When they want to make things happen, They make things happen. When you don’t want to make things happen. You put hurdles and barriers every step of the way.

“When you create the environment and the conditions for companies to invest in your community, they’re going to show up; when you don’t create the environment for companies to come they won’t even look at it. They’ll look the other way.”