By Staff
September 5th, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
Mayor Marianne Meed Ward released the following statement this afternoon.
It is critical in today’s housing affordability crisis to not only enable housing starts, but to do so in a way that is transparent, accountable and inspires trust in the people we serve.
On Aug. 30, the Office of the Integrity Commissioner released its report from its investigation of the process that led to protected Greenbelt lands in southern Ontario being removed and selected for housing development. The independently published report found the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing had violated two sections of the provincial Members’ Integrity Act.
Mayor Marianne Meed Ward in her City Hall office
I thank Integrity Commissioner J. David Wake for their thorough review. It is important to note that the Commissioner had no authority to recommend the land be returned to the Greenbelt. On Aug. 9, the Office of the Auditor General (AG) of Ontario released its report on the same matter. AG Bonnie Lysyk did recommend the provincial government re-evaluate the decision to remove these lands from the Greenbelt, as it is not needed to reach the Province’s housing targets. I echo that call.
Burlington Council and City staff are committed to doing our part to address housing affordability. We have unanimously accepted our assigned provincial housing pledge of 29,000 homes in the next 10 years. We are committed to issuing those permits as efficiently as possible so developers can get shovels in the ground, and we are equally committed to doing so in a way that protects our Greenbelt and rural area, with growth directed within our urban boundary at our GO stations, retails plazas and identified growth areas.
On behalf of Burlington City Council, I look forward to working with the Hon. Paul Calandra, the newly- appointed Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, and the Hon. Rob Flack, Associate Minister of Housing with a specific mandate on attainable housing and modular homes, to achieve these shared goals.
Let’s not omit this relevant fact, one which I believe should have been noted by the Mayor, as InHalton reported in their story on her latest statement. Another statement where nobody gets to ask questions (like, aren’t you enraged at the Ontario government, Ford and former Minister Clark for this corruption and doesn’t this make you question everything they say relating to housing? Doesn’t the buck stop with Premier Ford and do you believe he should resign?”):
“The Ontario Greenbelt runs from Niagara to Durham Region and circles the Greater Toronto Area and was set aside in 2005 to restrict urban sprawl and prevent loss of farmland and natural heritage. It encompasses about two million acres of both public and privately owned land. Greenbelt areas in Burlington were not part of those that were removed by Queen’s Park.”
The Mayor isn’t saving the Burlington Greenbelt from something which isn’t actually impacting the Burlington Greenbelt. I do understand she is saying she wants to protect our lands and the whole Greenbelt in general. But I think it’s important to make the distinction that this particular corrupt practice doesn’t include Burlington lands.
Let’s not forget the root cause of the housing crisis is on the federal Liberals. Excessive government spending driving inflation, resulting in higher interest rates. Over taxation, that all gets added to the cost. Unprecedented increases in immigration with no plan to provide housing for new immigrants and foreign students. We have a new federal minister of housing scratching his head after leaving his post at immigration says it all.
This story is about the massive corruption in our Ontario government, which is being done under the guise of affordable housing and a housing crisis and immigration and all the things you state. I don’t believe the developers give a hoot about any of it nor do they plan to build affordable housing or housing for international students on the Greenbelt. It’s about them pocketing $8B and our government helping them do it – well, certain ones in particular.
Now where else do many of these same cast of characters (my gosh, take a look at the social media photos of some of these people!) also pop up? The Ontario Place spa fiasco, Highway 413, on and on it goes. The story is the corruption. Let’s blow it all open. This is only the tip of the iceberg.
What a joke. The city has done nothing but oppose development since the mayor was elected. Now they are working with developers to get shovels in the ground? The mayor knows that the city has no chance of building 29,000 homes in the next 10 years. The city has averaged less than 500 units per year for the past 5 years, how is that magically going to increase 5x to 2,900 units per year? The mayor and council were elected to opposed development and that is what they did. Classic politicians to change their tune and now pretend that they care about affordability and delivering badly needed housing.
Adam don’t forget the infamous Interim Control By-!aw that regardless of the warnings of the Hamilton Housing Association that they were making a huge mistake and those like Maple Villa who were desperately trying to bring much needed LTC beds yo Burlington the newbie Council played follow the Mayor’s lead and staff had no option knowing their fate if they gave the solid advice we pay them to render. In the 2018 election Shawna Stolte promised to work to move the Downtown mobility hub which the Mayor put the brakes on for at the very least a good year.
The Mayor can’t even define affordability.
Editor’s note: To be fair, it is not the Mayor’s responsibility to create a definition of affordability – that is a provincial responsibility. They need to come up with a definition that will be used by every municipality.
No need to be fair to the Mayor, she doesn’t need to create a definition.
CMHC has had a one for years.
“What is affordable housing? In Canada, housing is considered “affordable” if it costs less than 30% of a household’s before-tax income.”
The Halton Region uses a more verbose version of the same definition.
“Affordable housing is housing with a market price (for
purchase) or rent that is affordable to households of low and
moderate income, spending no more than 30 per cent of their
gross household income on housing, without government
assistance.”
So why doesn’t the Mayor and her side kicks know.
It is to her political advantage to confuse the issue.
I looked at some rents advertised in Burlington.
One bedrooms going for $2000/month are only affordable if you make $80,000/yr.
This is a classic case of having your “cake and eating it too”. The developers get both the higher and higher density – Ted’s 450-550 square footers in 30 plus storey builds – in the various MTSA and Urban Growth Centre neighborhoods, and now tossed in, is the Greenbelt, that gives them better than business as usual, to build what they really want to, like they always have, making billions.
Better than that, they are not paying the full freight costs of development, yet another gift from Ford. The Mayor knows this is presently the truth for Burlington and Halton.
To make sure all this will work, the OLT is well established now to make sure there is available to developers a provincial central control agency to deliver the plan. Look at this for Burlington and you will see it generally in action, happening as we speak in the Aldershot MTSA.
What is her definition of a “home”….is it a single family house?, a condo?, or an apartment complex or even units? Also, love to know where she is going to put them.
LOL, surely the Mayor doesn’t believe a 450 to 550 square foot condominium in a high rise tower next to an underutilized mobility hub qualifies as a “home”. Especially when a parking space for same is made 160 SF. Why not house them in cars and leave the GreenBelt intact.