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| Scanned, recopied or Internet copy, if there are errors, please e-mail me with corrections: Opening comments: More at the end. Here are parts of web-pages put up at The Black Hole of Conservation http://www.blackhole.on.ca/news_greenbelt.htm. Each page has much more than is presented here, so pay it a visit if you want more details, it is worth it. ONTARIO GREENBELT PLAN: BATTLE BREWING IN PICKERING "There's a lot at stake here... This is the first challenge to the Golden Horseshoe greenbelt." "The City of Pickering has "sold its soul ... There is, in my mind, both a legal, "... Pickering and their apparent developer friends may have just pulled a modern day heist, in the range of In the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve of Pickering, a major battle is brewing between local politicians, Planning Background In 1996, many Planning Act controls previously in placed were almost "gutted" by the Ontario (Harris) government leading to the current dilemma. The effects of Bill 20 - Land Use Planning and Protection Act, the Omnibus Bill 26 (one of the most sweeping pieces of legislation in Canadian history) and Ontario's Policy Statement under the Planning Act saw land use planning responsibility downloaded to municipalities. Although obligated to have regard for the principles in the "Provincial Policy Statement", local municipal governments such as Pickering now have considerable autonomy in land use planning decisions. The Greenbelt Plan is seen by local politicians as a tremendous assault on the city's municipal autonomy, as the controlling policy will now be generated by the provincial government. The Greenbelt Plan also does not take into consideration Official Plans of municipalities. The Greenbelt Plan still allows for new highways and massive urban sprawl in the headwaters of the Rouge, Duffins and other GTA watersheds, threatening loss of more farmland and greenspace. Not enough time was allowed for adequate consultation and informed public debate as it relates to the greenbelt's boundaries, lack of an appeal process, future effects on the province's agricultural viability or the issue of property rights. The Ontario Greenbelt Plan (covering 1.8 million acres) is potentially at stake. The first substantial "test case" on the new greenbelt legislation will be in a court of law dealing with an area known as the Rouge Duffins Agricultural Preserve in Pickering. Facts about the Rouge-Duffins Agricultural Preserve: Area is composed of about 7,400-acres in Pickering located between Rouge Valley to the west and West Duffins Creek to the east. This land was originally set aside in the 1970's by the Ontario government. In 1999, the Province of Ontario (Ontario Realty Corp) sold thousands of acres to local farmers at a price ranging from $4,000 to $8,000 an acre. A condition was included in the terms of sale which stated conservation easements would be registered on title "in perpetuity". Former Mayor Wayne Arthurs (now provincial Liberal MPP) agreed in writing to the "in perpetuity" agricultural easement at the same time Pickering was granted custody of the easements - such custody at the request of the City of Pickering. By 2004, a growth management study was completed for The City of Pickering and mostly paid for by Developers (in the amount of $625,000.00), particularly Sylvio De Gasperis and Ajax developer Jerry Coughlan. The study calls for a new community of 76,900 people in both Seaton and the agricultural preserve. By February, 2005, conservation easements on 28 properties were sold by the City of Pickering to a developer for $2.5 million. Most of the farmlands (about 2,000 acres) which had conservation easements removed by the City of Pickering but are still included in the Greenbelt Plan. These lands are owned or controlled by developer Silvio De Gasperis. Furthermore, Developers within the Agricultural Preserve have made significant campaign contributions to Mayor Ryan, Pickering Councillors and Wayne Arthurs, MPP during the last provincial and municipal elections. If Silvio De Gasperis and other landowners succeed in winning the right to urbanize the area, the land could be worth as much as $300,000 per acre - almost 10 times more than what taxpayers realized when the land was initially sold by the Province (ORC) in 1999 to the farmers. Silvio De Gasperis has launched a groundbreaking legal action under the Ontario Planning and Development Act, challenging the government's process in determining the greenbelt boundaries in Pickering. If his legal challenge is successful in North Pickering, it could set a greenbelt breaking precedent in Ontario. SOMEBODY IS ABOUT TO GET SCREWED - NO MATTER WHICH WAY YOU LOOK AT IT Why were public lands sold by ORC in 1999? "The Ontario Realty Corporation has continued to market, rezone, subdivide, and sell government land holdings affecting environmentally significant lands - including lands in ... the Oak Ridges Moraine, the Markham-Pickering Agricultural Land Preserve and the Rouge Park areas - all without adequate environmental study or public consultation." Environmental Commissioner of Ontario - Annual Report 1999/2000 "Changing Perspectives" p. 35 "The Ontario Realty Corporation is breaking the Environmental Assessment Act by not conducting studies for environmentally sensitive land it is selling... The environment is vulnerable. Last year (1999), the ORC sold $200-million worth of property without conducting a single environmental assessment." Gord Miller, Environmental Commissioner Globe and Mail, November 2, 2000 WHY did the Province of Ontario give Pickering the exclusive right to remove the conservation easements? (the original "agreement" protecting the land into perpetuity was between the Province and individual landowners - NOT Pickering) From THE BLACK HOLE OF CONSERVATION http://www.blackhole.on.ca/ORC.htm ONTARIO REALTY CORP. (ORC) - TORY LAND SCAMS (1995 - ) In one three year period alone, the Environmental Registry confirmed the shocking rate of public land dispositions. Public Land Sales in Ontario April 1, 1998 to March 30, 1999 206 transactions April 1, 1999 to March 31, 2000 342 transactions April 1, 2000 to March 31, 2001 300 transactions April 1, 1998 to March 31, 2001 848 transactions Total (EBR Registry #PB8E6022) The Tories appear wedded to powerful special developmental interest groups - at the expense of taxpayers who entrust them to carry out their responsibilities. Coddling of developers by elected and appointed public officials is seen in the campaigning area which demands large campaign funds to get re-elected. A developer with a $50 million project thinks nothing of putting up a few hundred thousand dollars for campaign contributions. Most often, these same Developers under the umbrella of several different numbered companies, make inconspicuous political contributions which are difficult to trace. For example, a McLaughlin Rd. property in Mississauga saw the same group of companies making 342 donations (totaling $463,044.00) to the Conservative party since 1995, when Harris came into power. A similar pattern has emerged in the Oak Ridges Moraine with political donations by developers to politicians of all levels of government, but especially the Tories which got 80% of corporate donations. (Toronto Star, June 2, 2001 A9) "The Province "rewards" Developers who make financial contributions to the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party by allowing them to encroach upon environmentally sensitive lands... It's a matter of public interest being for sale. (For example) One of the companies Fernbrook Homes advertises on the Internet for a development that abuts the environmentally sensitive Oak Ridges Moraine, north of Toronto. A developer has an interest in the moraine. It gives more than $335,000.00 to the Tories and guess what happens? The Minister of the Environment goes to bat for greater development in the moraine".* *According to Dwight Duncan, Liberal Municipal Affairs Critic Former Environment Minister Tony Clement has denied the allegation. "TORIES SOLD OUT TO DEVELOPERS"... Toronto Star, November 4, 1999 A review of the donations to the Conservatives shows other familiar names, including developers Saverio Montemarano of Concord and Nick Cortellucci and billionaire Peter Munk, have given the Tories substantial personal and corporate donations since 1995. (Toronto Star, June 2, 2001 A9) The huge ORC scandal is caused directly by the wide opening of doors by the Tory Government for the mass sell-off of public lands - doors which were previously closed. The ORC Trial is set for the Fall of 2003. 2000: 2001: 2002: 2003: The following items are published as a matter of public interest showing the many shady aspects of land dealings under the Harris-Eves Government (beginning with the most recent). - [have to visit the web-site for them ] [COMMENTS BY DON B. - ] |
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