ministerial zoning orders

While cities like ours are surging ahead with climate measures, there's a distressing lack of provincial leadership in Ontario.

In the era of climate change, cutting conservation authorities out of the development process hinders climate progress and could spell disaster for residents living in flood zones.

From the moment Doug Ford became premier, Ontario's government has run roughshod over the province's Environmental Bill of Rights.

Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark said he wasn’t sure how many of the controversial land zoning orders the province plans to issue before the next election. "It's really just greenwash for the government's extraordinary misuse of MZOs to drive sprawl," said Phil Pothen of Environmental Defence.

City councillors in Stratford, Ont., should not have voted behind closed doors to seek a controversial land zoning order from the province, an independent investigator found. The order fast-tracked a since-cancelled proposal for a controversial glass factory.

Last spring, Ontario’s auditor general warned the government that changes to environmental assessments in Bill 197 were “not compliant” with the law. Now, First Nations and environmental groups are asking a judge to review the decision.

The premier’s office says the 413 is needed to serve a growing population and relieve pressure on highways that will soon be over capacity. National Observer and Torstar took an inside look at the money, power and influence behind Ontario's push to build the highway.

The contentious Durham Live project was proposed by a billionaire family keen on building a ‘mini Las Vegas.’ Before that, they were best known for a failed bid to turn the Silverdome arena in Detroit, Mich., into the home of a soccer franchise.

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.

Under fire during question period Tuesday, the Ford government didn’t address criticism about the environmental impact of MZOs, the subject of a Canada's National Observer investigation released last week. But PC MPP Parm Gill said the government “will not apologize.” Later, the government announced renewed funding for the Greenbelt Foundation, which critics said was a distraction.

The Ford government gutted the powers of conservation authorities in 2020. The Ontario Liberals, NDP and Greens have all pledged to undo that change if they win the next election, and to revoke any permits issued under the weaker rules.

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.

The Ford government has used ministerial zoning orders, or MZOs, to override environmental concerns in 14 cases, an analysis by Canada’s National Observer shows. In many cases, developers who benefitted donated thousands to the PCs and Ontario Proud.