Bill 23: Doug Ford’s gift to Hamilton | Daily News Byte

This holiday season, let’s consider the gift that keeps on giving — Bill 23. Not giving to everyone, mind you. But to those who benefited, the Ford government’s law to build more and faster was a real gem.

As is the development industry in general, and developers in particular who have the plans and money to build larger developments on lands formerly protected by being in the Greenbelt. They are thrilled. Especially those who happen to have bought some of that land in the not too distant past, who will see the value of that land skyrocket once the first developments are approved.

Wasn’t that a stroke of luck? They bought Greenbelt land, and this happened shortly before the government announced that it would be made available for development.

And even more coincidentally — some of them donated a lot of money to Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative party. Crazy world.

You’d think those developers knew something was coming. But that means someone in the government told them, and Ford assures us that’s not the case. So there is nothing to see here, the premier said that everything is okay. Mind you, he’s the same premier who said in the past that he wouldn’t allow development on the Greenbelt, so perhaps his solemn assurance should be taken with a grain of salt.

And what about the people in the beautiful town of Erin, not far from Guelph? To their surprise, they recently learned that 7,000 hectares of their town and region are being added to the Greenbelt, part of the government’s commitment to replace more of what it is taking. Of course, most of the land in the area is agricultural and used for that purpose, and it is unlikely to give way to development in any event.

The Erins now have the Greenbelt protection they didn’t need in the first place.

In addition to the town of Erin, the province will also add to the Greenbelt 13 publicly owned lands in the so-called Urban River Valleys across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area. Consider the words of Kevin Thomason of the Greenbelt West Coalition, who told Torstar: “This is protected land that … this land already belongs to the government — the areas around the creeks and rivers that no threat to development and no possibility. of ever developed.”

Do you see a trend here? Take prime agricultural land from places like Niagara and the Duffins Rouge Agriculture Preserve, which has some of the best farmland in the country, and replace it in the Greenbelt with lands that weren’t candidates for development in the first place . Then call it an even swap. Clever, isn’t it?

Hamilton’s new city councilor Ted McMeekin, also a former minister of provincial municipal affairs, today delivers a strong and effective summary of what’s wrong with Bill 23. It’s recommended reading.

As Spec reporter Teviah Moro tells the story of the law’s impact on Hamilton’s tax base. Because Bill 23 eliminates or reduces development fees from many new constructions, Hamilton will forgo between $14 million and $25 million in revenue each year. That revenue would typically go to pay for infrastructure such as sewers, roads, bridges and services to support new housing.

Here again, developers will surely win by paying less or no development charges. They get improved profitability, while Hamilton and its taxpayers get — well — Scrooged.

Fortunately, Municipalities and Housing Minister Steve Clark said municipalities affected by the revenue losses can “make it whole,” assuming the province agrees to their business case. Mind you, he’s talking about Toronto specifically, and also about getting the federal government to use its Housing Accelerator Fund to pay municipalities.

So, the province changes policies that cause municipalities to lose millions, then it says it’s up to Ottawa to fix the revenue shortfall created by provincial policy. See how they did that?

There you have it — Bill 23, the gift that keeps on giving. Thank you Santa Doug.

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