I'm gobsmacked and so disappointed that @Sid_Seixeiro and @meredithshaw are no longer with @breakfasttv. What a monumentally stupid decision! Sid & Mer, you were awesome and are greatly missed (so much so that I came onto X just for this post. Back to #Bluesky for me!)
@breakfasttv Mayor Chow inherited a crumbling city that was (and still is) on fire. She has made hard and good decisions, even if they will be painful for us all for a while longer. In the long run, we should all benefit, if it isn't too late.
@breakfasttv Toronto has no choice but to dramatically increase taxes. We have the lowest tax rate in the province and crumbling infrastructure and services. Myr Chow is courageous for actually addressing the shortfall instead of deepening it.
#topoli#onpoli The sound of the other shoe dropping… Auditor general to probe Ford government’s Ontario Place redevelopment | https://t.co/pv9PIwiyEz https://t.co/1C7oWpkYg3
I've been wondering how @fordnation would make it up to his developer friends after taking back some of the equity generated from his corrupt Greenbelt legislation. Looks like he's just going to send them taxpayer money directly instead. A bailout for his buddies?
Right wing fearmongering and bigoted "parents rights" platform lost last night. It's time to end Canada's flirtation with populism and grievance politics. It's time to get back to building a better Canada where we CARE for each other and use hope not hate to motivate #cdnpoli 🇨🇦
if "American politics" were broken, we'd have seen things like this happen when Democrats controlled the House
but we didn't
what's broken, very specifically, is the Republican Party
#ONpoli
"The gas pump stickers didn't stick and the license plates had invisible ink and my housing plan didn't build houses and my healthcare plans have no nurses and all I want to do is fly around Ontario and give people burgers but they won't let me why is this so hard..."
Any news organization that reports the news about McCarthy endorsing an impeachment inquiry without CLEARLY and AT THE TOP stating that there is no meaningful reason for such an inquiry is doing journalism wrong. Too many orgs already jumping into the gamesmanship.
An informed public is the foundation of a functioning democracy.
My tweets have gotten longer as the #Greenbelt scandal has come to light, mostly because there is so much to talk about.
But also because I have always seen this platform, even in its changing form, as a mechanism to provide a window into good urbanism, municipal policy and governance, and the foundations of a liveable future (yes all of that usually leads to a lot of tweeting about bikes and affordable housing).
I’ve spent over 25 years advocating for the greenbelt, involved in research and policy development, and touting it on the world stage as foundational to our sustainable future. As Chief Planner I played a role in expanding it significantly through the inclusion of Urban River Valleys. The Greenbelt has made us the envy of the world. It’s something we’ve gotten right. We’ve linked it to policies focused on building housing in existing built up areas, intensification, transit expansion, access to nature, a safe and sustainable food and water supply, and creating complete communities.
The idea that a reckless, self-interested government can destroy it in a term or two is beyond comprehension to me. That they have done this using “deception” - the Integrity Commissioners words, is beyond the pale. That they have hid behind our truly devastating housing crisis, despite the Auditor General making it clear that “a shortage of land is not driving the housing crisis” is also beyond the pale.
But this is happening. And we need to get real about the fact that it is happening. Because the damage to our farmland, our regional centres, the impact on our commutes as a result of another layer of regional sprawl, and the distraction from building housing that we desperately need - it might just take us to our breaking point.
This is a map of the Province of Ontario.
The Greenbelt is a sliver of land in the context of the Province. I was going to draw it on the map but it was as thin as a pencil line at this scale. But an important pencil line - it is the richest farmland in the entire province. It is also the Carolinian forest - which contains an extremely high biodiversity of species, over 500 of which are considered rare on a global scale.
The Greenbelt was created to ensure we didn't pave over this rich farmland. It was created to halt sprawl.
The #GreenbeltGrab has never been about a shortage of land. Look at this Province! There is so much abundant land that isn't Greenbelt.
The #GreenbeltGiveaway has never been about building housing, either. It is about the profit, the uplift in value, that comes from re-designating agricultural land to residential land.
Uplift in value. At the expense of prime, irreplaceable agricultural land. That's what this is about.
@JaredJConway@MayorOliviaChow Its possible ridership is low because of the various problems with the service (Eg delays, re-routings, safety). Improving service might bring at least some of the riders back. It’s a start.