Last episode we spoke with Tim Gray of Environmental Defense, about their ongoing legal action against the Ontario Government to get to the bottom of the Greenbelt Scandal. Little did we know how deep the rabbit hole went.
A few days after the episode aired, Environmental Defense alongside Eco Justice released close to 7,000 pages of documents obtained under an FOI request. Those documents illuminated the shady backroom politics and deals that have been a symptom of this Ontario government. Newsrooms have put their interns and resources into plowing through the trove of documents to see what it tells us. At an early glance, the tale tells of a government which carved up the greenbelt and protected lands at the whims of particular developers who had their ear. Those stories are coming to light slowly but surely. We didn’t want to repeat or take credit for the hard work of other journalists, so that’s not what this episode is going to do.
Instead, we’re going to look for a pattern in what the documents reveal. How does the relationship between the development industry and this government work? What can they tell us about where we are in the housing crisis currently? Is there hope at the end of the tunnel to solve this crisis responsibly and efficiently? Or is there no process at all and it’s clear that it is all just insider bag men and quid pro quo politics?
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Nicholas Paul: sound editing.
I’d say it’s the latter, insider bag men and rot to the core. Let’s not forget the Ontario Place and Science Centre corruption now being looked at by the Attorney General. On and on it goes. It’s bigger and wider than we yet know, but it’s cracking. Keep digging, journalists!
Months after calling and emailing Burlington MPP Natalie Pierre, asking for a response from her on the whole greenbelt corruption, I still had zero response. She then last week sent me a mass email her office sent out blathering on about something else entirely. So she got my emails, put me on her mailing list, but never responded. I replied and called her out yet again.
She sent a response, finally. To say it is lacking is an understatement. I’ve sent you a copy by email.