New protections for the Greenbelt are welcome. But opposition politicians are right to be wary.

Paul Calandra, Ontario’s minister of municipal affairs and housing, this week introduced legislation to restore Greenbelt lands. Opposition leaders are wary of the abrupt change of heart by the government, which had proposed opening up 7,400 acres of protected lands to new housing.

Richard Lautens / Toronto Star

Confidence in the Ford government’s commitment to either the environment or to transparent, accountable decision-making will not be quickly regained.

By Star Editorial Board, October 18, 2023

It is a head-spinning conversion worthy of St. Paul on the road to Damascus or Ebenezer Scrooge on that famous Dickensian Christmas.

In fact, Premier Doug Ford’s new devotion to the sanctity of Ontario’s Greenbelt lands – as expressed in legislation introduced Monday at Queen’s Park – is so abrupt a reversal that Ontarians can hardly help but be bewildered, and a little suspicous.

Read More Here