Duffins Creek

The developers behind the Pickering, Ont., project received a conditional permit Friday night. But in the meantime, local officials called for it to be paused and the Ontario government signalled it would be willing to backtrack.

The developers behind the controversial Durham Live project donated nearly $5,000 to the Progressive Conservatives days before the government made two moves to enable a warehouse to go on top of a protected wetland. Meanwhile, environmental groups asked a court Monday to block the developers from receiving a permit.

On Thursday, the Ford government introduced a bill that would expand its ability to use controversial land zoning orders. An internal document obtained by Canada’s National Observer shows the move is aimed at quashing a lawsuit that seeks to halt a casino development on a protected Pickering wetland.

As more Ontario communities contend with unwanted ministerial zoning orders, a playbook for how to oppose them is emerging: build a coalition, do your own research and keep the pressure high.

Hundreds of shoes will be placed outside Pickering city hall this week, a message from some of those who but for COVID-19 restrictions would be there demanding municipal and provincial politicians call off their push to pave over rare urban wetlands on Toronto’s outskirts. 

The announcement comes the day after an investigation by Canada’s National Observer showed the Ford government has been using a controversial special zoning order to give the green light to developments in environmentally sensitive areas. Several allowed projects in close proximity to the Greenbelt, which experts say can degrade the protected land.

Developers linked to projects fast-tracked by the Ford government poured donations into the the Progressive Conservatives and Ontario Proud, a third-party group that supported the Tories in the 2018 provincial election.