Minister’s zoning orders (MZOs) are a powerful tool the province can use to expedite development on a specific parcel of land. At the stroke of a pen, a cabinet minister overrides local planning rules, avoids public consultation and changes what can be built on the property.

The Ford government has handed out MZOs at an unprecedented pace: at least 110 of them since 2019. By contrast, previous Liberal governments issued just 18 between 2003 and 2018.

A tally by the Ontario NDP finds that just four guests at a Ford family wedding reception benefited from as many MZOs as previous Liberal governments issued in total over the course of their 15 years in power.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldBEnglish
    3·
    8 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:

    There’s fresh scrutiny of how Premier Doug Ford’s government issued dozens of fast-track approvals to rezone select properties, some of them owned by developers who also stood to benefit from Greenbelt land swaps.

    A tally by the Ontario NDP finds that just four guests at a Ford family wedding reception benefited from as many MZOs as previous Liberal governments issued in total over the course of their 15 years in power.

    For years, the Ford government has defended its use of MZOs as a way to spur housing construction or to clear away red tape from urgent provincial projects such as long-term care facilities.

    NDP leader Marit Stiles has scheduled a news conference for Monday morning on the topic of what the party calls “Ford’s corrupt pattern of gifting MZOs to well-connected insiders.”

    Green Party leader Mike Schreiner is calling for a careful review “to make sure that the same corrupt process that led to [the government] removing land from the Greenbelt hasn’t been involved in any of these MZOs.”

    Then last week, Calandra announced the government is reversing another of its controversial moves to open more land for housing: boundary expansions and zoning changes it forced on 12 municipalities, including Ottawa, Hamilton and Waterloo Region.

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