The lessons about Ford

We learned something important this week about Doug Ford, the man who would be premier.

We learned that he makes stuff up on the fly and is willing to say things to pander to whatever audience he’s talking to.

And we learned that he hasn’t thought through some of the most important issues facing Ontario and, specifically, the Greater Toronto region.

We learned these things from a video released on Monday by the Ontario Liberals. It showed Ford telling a group of developers that he intends to “open a big chunk” of the Greenbelt around the GTA and Hamilton for new single-family homes. He dismisses the Greenbelt as “just farmers’ fields.” And he tells the builders that this is “my plan for affordable housing.”

Ford and his Progressive Conservatives knew this was a big problem for them the instant the video surfaced. He immediately declared that he actually supports the Greenbelt “in a big way.” And he promised that if he allowed some development he’d add an equivalent amount from somewhere else.

Not good enough. In the face of withering fire from the Liberals and NDP, as well as general outrage from the public at large, Ford on Tuesday declared a total reversal of policy.

Now he says, “the people have spoken — we won’t touch the Greenbelt. Very simple. That’s it, the people have spoken. I’m going to listen to them, they don’t want me to touch the Greenbelt. We won’t touch the Greenbelt. Simple as that.”

OK, we get it. Ford won’t touch the Greenbelt. But that isn’t the end of the matter.

The video showed the PC leader speaking candidly to a group he clearly felt comfortable with, telling them things he thought they wanted to hear. If the video hadn’t come to light, the developers would still be under the impression that a Ford-led provincial government would set about carving bits out of the Greenbelt, one of the most important environmental initiatives of the past 20 years.

What else, we wonder, has he promised similar groups? What other simplistic declarations has he made to win support, first during his successful bid for the PC leadership, and more recently in the run-up to the official campaign for the June 7 Ontario election?

It’s clear from the video that Ford had little understanding of the importance of the Greenbelt, 800,000 hectares of land declared off-limits for development by the McGuinty government back in 2005.

It includes farmland, forests, fields, wetlands and river valleys. The Greenbelt provides food for everyone, recreation for city dwellers and habitat for animals. It is, in short, a vital part of this massive urban area, home to more than 9 million people and still growing fast. Chopping it up would be a crime.

It’s also clear that Ford has a shaky grasp on the issues involved in promoting more affordable housing.

Developers don’t need to eat away at the Greenbelt to find land to build on. The Neptis Foundation says there are more than 100,000 hectares available for housing development within existing urban boundaries. And Frank Clayton, an economist with Ryerson University’s Centre for Urban Research and Land Development, says there’s enough land in the “white belt” — areas already set aside for development — to satisfy developers for the next 20 or 30 years.

This region is expected to grow by another four million people over the next quarter century. Giving the green light to more sprawl is the last thing government should be doing.

Doug Ford did the right thing by dropping his ill-advised plan for the Greenbelt. But voters should not forget what it tells us about a man who could be premier in just a few weeks.

PC Leader Doug Ford makes stuff up on the fly and is willing to pander to whatever audience he’s talking to