May 16th, 2023

NDP: AG report raises concerns on Ford’s environmental track record

QUEEN’S PARK - NDP MPPs Sandy Shaw (Hamilton West – Ancaster – Dundas), NDP critic for the Environment, Conservation, and Parks, and Sol Mamakwa (Kiiwetinoong) raised concerns in Question Period today about Ford’s track record on transparency when it comes to environmental protections.

“For years, the Premier promised he would not build on the Greenbelt while secretly planning to sell it to his developer friends behind closed doors. Last week he told us what he really thinks and said the whole Greenbelt area is a scam,” said Mamakwa. “With overwhelming evidence against this government, how can they go ahead with their reckless zoning of the Greenbelt?”

The questions came the same morning the Auditor General (AG) released a report on the state of the environment in Ontario, which highlighted the steps the government has taken to eliminate tracking and reporting of environmental concerns on the Greenbelt and minimizing transparency for the public.

“Today’s Auditor General report reminded us that this government secretly stopped tracking their wetland targets in 2018 and concealed this information for three years until it was exposed in the AG's 2021 report,” said Shaw. “The next year, this government went ahead and issued zoning orders that would pave over provincially significant lands.

“The timeline is clear - while publicly denying any intention to dismantle the Greenbelt the Premier was secretly scrapping wetland targets and putting forward legislation for his government to re-zone sensitive areas that put people, farmland, and species at risk. The people of Ontario need to trust that this government is being transparent on environmental issues such as wetland protections, and right now, they can’t”.