Ford’s expansionist plans must be checked

Premier Doug Ford gave out pre-election goodies like licence sticker rebates. But as his election budget indicates, voters are in for sticker shock when it comes to adding up the costs to the taxpayer and the environment of Ford’s expansionist development initiatives.

Here are three of Ford’s questionable uncontrollable growth policies for the province:

■ With his majority, Ford has pushed through three bills for massive unregulated urban sprawl. They broaden municipal ministerial zoning orders, enable municipal boundaries to be extended and centralize town planning, taking away municipal powers, reputedly again in the name of quickly getting new housing starts. But this means destroying farmland and natural areas, ending full environmental assessments and aiding land speculators and area developers while doing away with local quality planning and affordable housing efforts.

■ Ford’s budget puts forward a highway building spree with just Highway 413, north of Toronto, set to cost at least $10 billion. He cannot wait and has put out a tender call for construction of the estimated $1.5-billion Bradford bypass. That’s despite the environmental damage to more farmland, natural areas and a Greenbelt section that Highway 413 will cross. Some groups and municipalities want Highway 413 and the bypass cancelled. To Ford, this expensive ring road, that will hardly cut down travel times by much, is a vote-getter, catering to those favouring autos, roads and new urban sprawl.

■ Ford wants a massive road network going through northern Ontario so he can open up a giant Ring of Fire multi-mine project on behalf of a multinational mining company from Australia. To get going, he has introduced changes to the Far North Act designed to facilitate road development and committed $1 billion for such infrastructure development. But Ford is downplaying the effect of such a massive development on area Indigenous groups and wildlife. He’s ignoring, too, the irreparable environmental disruption and damage that will be result to one of the world’s largest peat bog areas that helps fight climate change. Not all area First Nations and others however are buying in, though some are. Others are saying this project will require billions more dollars and in the end, have little to show for itself, making it the largest white elephant project in the province’s history.

For those voting to save a few minutes in travel, for more urban sprawl and for a few new possible mines with unknown potential, Ford’s your man.

Just remember, before voting, to check out the incredible price to the environment, the collateral damage to Indigenous communities, the shocking price tag to be incurred by the taxpayer and the bullying tactics Ford and his majority government are using to fast forward his expansionist plans before and if he wins, after election day.

Lowering health premiums, improving education post-pandemic, tackling growing poverty, putting in place more green spaces, ending warehousing the elderly, that’s the next guy’s problems to try and solve.

There’s nothing subtle about Ford’s pro-expansion legislative changes, startup construction, budget commitments and pitches for massive developments going ahead in Ontario for which he hopes the electorate will give him another majority government come June 2.

Let’s hope not, or that the best he does is to get a minority government so his unregulated expansionist plans can be checked. Voters need to pause, examine and vote strategically to prevent what Ford and his allies want to do to remake Ontario.