Ontario housing minister floats 'suite' of new Greenbelt rules in first public appearance

Ontario’s newly-minted Housing Minister Paul Calandra says he is working to launch a promised review of Greenbelt development that could see more land removed from the region as part of a “suite of measures” proposed on the file Wednesday

Speaking to reporters at Queens Park, Calandra said he asked his Deputy Minister of Housing Tuesday to put in place a “fulsome” review of the process in which the lands were chosen to be removed from the protected region.

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“That review will start very, very soon,” he said, adding he was “looking forward” to the process.

The new minister said he isn’t clear on what the review will entail, but that it is possible that it could require the government to remove or add lands.

The appearance marked Calandra's first as Housing Minister after Steve Clark resigned Monday in the wake of two damning Greenbelt reports outlining a deeply flawed process that favoured certain developers and lacked transparency.

In tandem with the review, Calandra said a provincial facilitator is currently negotiating community benefits with local governments – work that he hopes will be done by the end of the year, after which he committed to making its results public.

"I've given [the provincial facilitator] a clear mandate as to what I expect to happen with these forecasts. I said, ‘It's very, very clear. We're building communities. I expect significant community benefits on these lands. I expect the natural heritage and the natural heritage features on these lands to be protected,’” he said.

If developers are found to have contravened regulations or are not meeting the PCs housing goals, Calandra said he intends to introduce a “use it or lose it” policy.

“I'm working with my department and I've instructed them as they said to bring forward a ‘use it or lose it’ policy,” the minister said. “We have to put shovels in the ground and we are relying on our partners in the development industry to get those shovels in the ground faster.”

Further measures floated by Calandra Wednesday included additional consumer protections, such as increased penalties for cancellation of purchase agreements and increased penalties for extortion of purchase agreements, and a potential increase of the non-resident speculation tax from its current 25 per cent.

When asked if the Ford government would pause the issuing of Ministerial Zoning Orders (MZOs), which allow the government to override local governments' decisions on land use, pending the review, Calandra said it would not.