Greenbelt building going ahead: Calandra touts progress, but without detail

Ontario’s new housing minister says the province has implemented 21 of its housing affordability task force’s recommendations, but his office won’t say which ones.

Paul Calandra held a press conference Thursday, his second in as many days, the same week he took over the portfolio after Steve Clark resigned in the wake of two scathing Greenbelt reports. CHCH News reporter Al Sweeney has the story above.

The auditor general and the integrity commissioner found that when he was housing minister Clark’s chief of staff favoured certain developers over others when selecting which lands would come out of the Greenbelt for housing.

Calandra said Wednesday a planned review of the Greenbelt could see even more land removed, but set out Thursday to put a positive spin on action the government is taking to build 1.5 million homes by 2031, a number he repeated constantly during the press conference.

“As of today, our government has fully implemented 21 of the task force’s 74 recommendations, and is in the process of implementing many more,” he said.

The minister said a website would soon be launched with updates on the government’s progress on the recommendations, but when asked for details, the ministry had none.

In the meantime, Hamiltonians showed up in force to a public meeting in Ancaster on Wednesday to voice their objections with another set for next week.

The recommendations included ways to increase density, and limit consultations and appeals. Calandra called the recommendations “an important blueprint on the way forward,” but the report also called on authorities to protect the Greenbelt.

“A shortage of land isn’t the cause of the problem,” the report said.