Greenbelt review could see recommendation for more land removals, new minister says

TORONTO — Ontario’s new housing minister says a review of the Greenbelt might well see a recommendation for more lands to be removed from the protected area.

A day after Premier Doug Ford announced a review of all parcels of protected Greenbelt land, as well as the sites the government removed for housing development late last year, Paul Calandra says he has asked the ministry to come up with parameters for the review.

Calandra says he won’t “presuppose” what that will entail, but that there might be lands that need to be added to the Greenbelt, and there might be some lands that are removed, but it will be a “fair and open process.”

The review comes after two scathing reports were released last month from the auditor general and the integrity commissioner saying that the housing minister’s chief of staff favoured certain developers over others when selecting which lands would come out of the Greenbelt.

Steve Clark resigned as housing minister Monday.

Calandra also says today he will be making a number of other changes in housing policy, including revising the use of Ministerial Zoning Orders, which override local zoning bylaws, and potentially increasing the non-resident speculation tax from its current 25 per cent.