Doug Ford is in trouble yet again over another controversial 'MZO' land deal
Doug Ford's generous use of Minister's Zoning Orders (MZO) has been an issue with the people of Ontario long before the Greenbelt scandal, but one recent bungle has really exemplified why at least some of the red tape he seeks to cut is indeed very necessary.
While the premier has defended his use of the tool by saying it's integral to getting much-needed housing built faster, reports show otherwise — some projects have somehow been further delayed by the use of MZOs. In one case, a historic building was razed without warning, only to become a parking lot.
Of the countless MZOs Ford has issued since taking office — which, at 110 in just a few years, total far more than the governments before him doled out over a whopping 15 years — is one for a pair of Mississauga plazas that is slated to become a 50-storey condo tower courtesy of developer Kaneff Group.
Ontario keeps fast-tracking big developments without public input and it's pissing people off https://t.co/x6A0Kmf0bf #Ontario
— blogTO (@blogTO) April 21, 2022
That is, it was slated until the order approved for the property just a few months ago was suddenly revoked for a pretty crucial reason: the fact that the highrise would interfere with emergency flight paths from Pearson Airport.
The approval process for the structure, as it goes with MZOs, was hurried through in under two weeks, sources told Global News on Monday, without any public meetings or due process at the City level — and without properly consulting with the authority that runs Pearson, it seems.
It was only after intervention by the Greater Toronto Airports Authority that the MZO at 5645 Hurontario Street was nullified, which is, naturally, inspiring further criticism of Ford's love for MZOs, which is now being investigated by Ontario's auditor general, along with some of Ford's other questionable moves.
second only to the dismantling of the environment/protected lands w/o community consultations
— Sandi sandi89701936 also Spoutible (@sandi89701936) January 21, 2021
Councillors in Mississauga are now asking that all MZOs issued for the city this year be formally reviewed.
The news comes shortly after the public found out that certain developers who attended Ford's daughter's wedding last August were given 18 MZOs for various projects.
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