The Strategy: Throw…

The Strategy: Throw everything at the wall and see what sticks

This bill is not about one particular “Greenbelt giveaway” — that already backfired. This is the pivot to quiet deregulation.

These proposed changes to the Planning Act and City of Toronto Act through Bill 17, should be called what they are: a lie — Protect Ontario by Building Faster and Smarter Act, 2025 — yet another classic Conservative bait-and-switch.

This is ostensibly about"efficiency" and "housing affordability"? The only thing efficient about this is the rate at which Ford's Cash-for-Access developer "donors", have priced every renter and first-time buyer out of affordable houses for "Luxury condos" managed by vulture-slum-lord that use predatory business models to drain every possible cent from owners and tenements (and these "management firms", that should not be legally allowed to call themselves that? would you look at that? are also Conservative Donors!)

This is beyond inefficient, the changes are designed to systematically weaken local oversight, centralize power in the hands of the Minister, and further tilt the planning process in favour of the developers — especially those with cozy ties to Ford’s government.

Here are 5 reasons exactly how Ontarians are being short-changed, and the lies being peddled to justify it:

1. “As-of-Right” Variances = Deregulation by Stealth
Ford’s claim: We’re cutting red tape to build more homes faster.

Reality: This change allows developers to bypass municipal committees for developments — which might seem minor but in aggregate WILL result in dramatic changes to neighbourhood density, building massing, privacy, and safety. These “as-of-right” rules strip communities of their ability to weigh in on development near their homes. It’s not streamlining — it’s silencing.

The real goal: Normalize developer-favourable precedents incrementally, so zoning protections can be slowly eroded with no need for government once Ford is out; no way to be impacted by PR backlash when the next Greenbelt scandal happens, they can do their own rezoning and OMB appeals.

2. Expanded Minister’s Zoning Order (MZO) Powers = Autocracy in Disguise
Ford’s claim: We’re adding “accountability” by letting the Minister impose conditions on MZOs.

Reality: MZOs are already the most anti-democratic tool in the provincial planning toolbox, and this change doesn't rein them in — it enshrines and expands them. The “conditions” are set by the Minister, not by local councils or citizens, and they become a tool to fast-track favoured projects while lying that this counts as due diligence.

Translation: Ford can greenlight any project, bypass all local planning rules, and impose cosmetic “conditions” — all while avoiding legal and public pushback. Accountability theatre.

3. Limiting What Municipalities Can Ask for in Planning Applications
Ford’s claim: We’re providing consistency and cutting down unnecessary study requirements.

Reality: This is a developer wishlist item. Limiting what municipalities can request means municipalities lose control over the scope of environmental, traffic, infrastructure, or social impact studies. Worse, the province wants to dictate which certified professionals must be accepted — potentially allowing industry-friendly consultants with conflicts of interest to rubber-stamp inadequate reports.

Short-change alert: This strips power from local governments and professional planners, and weakens environmental and social due diligence, all while pretending to save time.

Translation: "you wanted affordable housing units, and sustainable, accessible community infrastructure? what are you? some kind of radical environmentalist?!?! It's gentrification, Industrial polluters and LUXURY CONDOS. I have the money so I make the rules"

4. Blanket Zoning for Schools = A "But what about the poor children" Trojan Horse for Land Use Changes
Ford’s claim: We’re streamlining approvals for much-needed schools.

Reality: This lets public schools and childcare centres go up “as-of-right” in residential zones without rezoning, removing any community input or oversight. You want to build a Private Charter School? great! go a head "as-of-right” says you're all good. or hey, that's not a private club rezoning Greenbelt or other public land for a 'Luxury Members-Only Golf Course', no, its now an“ancillary non-public use development" for the new Galen Weston Golf and Hedge Fund Academy for Big-Business Lawyer Boys!

If you don't think the broader upzoning language is imbued with that kind of potential, maybe just look at who owns The Club at Bond Head, who's hosting the "The BWG Mayor & Council's Golf Classic is coming this June!", who the "Lunch Sponsor" is, how much money the Executives and owners of that company have donated to the PCs, and where exactly in Brampton Doug Ford was on Saturday Feb. 1, 2025.

5. "Environmental Neutrality" Claim = Deeply Misleading
Ford’s claim: These changes are environmentally neutral.

Reality: “Environmentally neutral” is a meaningless phrase here. The bill’s changes:

Reduce public input on development proposals.

Gut environmental and hazard assessments.

Make it easier to pave over land without holistic impact analysis.

All of this happens outside of the Environmental Bill of Rights process, and without accountability to conservation authorities or Indigenous Nations.

This bill is not about one particular “Greenbelt giveaway” — that already backfired. This is the pivot to quiet deregulation.

The Ford government is:

Embedding developer power inside routine processes.

Chipping away at local and professional discretion.

Restructuring planning law so public consultation is no longer the default, but the exception.

They’re betting that by avoiding headline-grabbing scandals, Ontarians won’t notice the cumulative effect: a province built not for communities, but for capital.

Summary — The Lies Ford Is Selling:

Lie:
“It’s about building homes faster.”
Reality:
It’s about letting developers bypass scrutiny and public input.

Lie:
“We’re streamlining approvals.”
Reality:
They’re centralizing control and sidelining municipalities.

Lie:
“We’re making planning more consistent.”
Reality
They’re removing municipalities’ right to protect residents and the environment.

Lie:
“We’re helping schools and families.”
Reality:
They’re using 'schools' as cover to further erode local land use planning.

Lie:
“No harm to the environment.”
Reality:
This would be like Exxon saying the Valdez didn't harm the environment because someone else owned the 53 million gallons of crude oil.