Ford Government Has –Without Any Consultation from Niagara Citizens – Simply Reappointed Bradley to Another Four Years as Regional Chair
“I’d like to know why Jeff Burch doesn’t support a great parliamentarian like Jim Bradley.” – Ford Government Minister Steven Burch, in Support of Bradley and in Response to Questions from Niagara Centre MPP Jeff Burch about the Ford government cancelling elections for Niagara Regional Chair
Ontario Legislature Hansard Featuring Niagara Centre NDP MPP Jeff Burch asking the Ford Government Why It Is Upending Niagara Regional Council’s Long-Standing Process for Electing a Regional Chair
Posted November 17th, 2022 on Niagara At Large
Niagara Centre NDP MPP Jeff Burch
Mr. Jeff Burch: Speaker. Through you to the Premier: Yesterday, in a move no one asked for or recommended, this government, with absolutely no consultation, tabled a bill that would allow them to appoint regional chairs in Niagara, York and Peel.
Just four years ago, in the middle of the municipal election campaign, this government cancelled regional chair elections in these regions, elections in which citizens were electing their chairs at large. They didn’t trust citizens with free and fair elections.
Now, they don’t even trust democratically elected councillors to choose a chair. Now the Premier is going to handpick who he wants to rule in his stead as he hands them additional powers to do his bidding. Why is the Premier showing such disdain for municipalities and turning local democracy into his own personal sandbox?
The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
Niagara Regional Chair Jim Bradley and former Ontario parliamentarian that Niagara Centre MPP Jeff Burch apparently hasn’t got enoughrespect for,according to
Doug Ford Tories who just reappointed Bradley to another four year term as Niagara Regional Chair.
Hon. Steve Clark: I’d like to know why Jeff Burch doesn’t support a great parliamentarian like Jim Bradley.
The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I’m going to ask the minister to refer to his colleagues across the floor by their riding as opposed to their personal name.
Hon. Steve Clark: Premier Ford made it crystal clear to Ontarians that the Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act was just the start, that we wanted to ensure by the time those two new mayors were sworn in in Ontario’s two largest cities, Toronto and Ottawa, he made it crystal clear that that was the start.
So the announcement yesterday in Bill 39, which it was pretty obvious that New Democrats don’t support-just to add to the litany of housing initiatives this government has done. We’ve done over 90 since 2018, and every single time we try to increase housing supply and actually provide an opportunity for a young person to realize the dream of homeownership, New Democrats vote against it. So it’s no surprise, Speaker, that this member and their party under the leadership of Marit Stiles is going to not support.
The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Once again I am going to ask the minister to refer to members by their riding names, the same courtesy that each of us would expect of each other.
The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Order. Supplementary question.
Mr. Jeff Burch: It’s absolutely ludicrous. At a time when he is failing education workers and children, pediatric ICUs are over capacity and we’re in an affordable housing crisis, this Premier is laser-focused on autocratic changes to municipal government.
The Premier isn’t just appointing elected positions; he’s also expanding strong-mayor powers to allow for minority rule while removing environmental protections and gutting conservation authorities.
Here’s what AMO said about the government’s recent housing bill:
“The province has offered no evidence that the radical elements of the bill will improve housing affordability. It is more likely the bill will enhance the profitability of the development industry at the expense of taxpayers and the natural environment.”
That’s AMO, who were not even invited to the Bill 23 hearings that the government just shut down this morning.
Speaker, will the Premier admit that he sees municipalities and local democracy as nothing more than a delivery system for his decisions and a way to shop around farmland and green space to his wealthy friends?
The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The Minister of Municipal Affairs.
Hon. Steve Clark: You know, Speaker, I think there’s one word that really articulates what New Democrats’ position on housing in Ontario is, and that’s BANANA; build absolutely nothing anywhere near anyone. That’s what New Democrats want; they want high housing prices. They young people to have no vision, no dream of homeownership.
Again and again and again, New Democrats stand up for bananas. We’re going to stand up for the dream of homeownership.
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Niagara At Large 
If the use of one word, ”BANANA” articulates the view of the NDP I believe the use of two words points us in the direction that the Conservative Government is bringing Ontario. I would think the appropriate words would be ”BANANA REPUBLIC” under the leadership of Kim Jung Ford and his minions is the future of Ontario. I’m very surprised that David Barrick or Carmen D’Angelo weren’t installed as Regional Chair for life ……………. but wait …………… there is still time for a Regional King.
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when all these new houses across the greenbelt cost even as little as half million loonies, which they will, how is that building housing for young people who still won’t be able to afford them ?
construction/development is one of those parts of the economy that is always short term, always needing another project to do frequently. it’s why the construction/developer people long ago infiltrated the entire political system and even before recent changes re-wrote the protocols and procedures of government to always ‘favour’ development over everything else.
but even those changes were considered by ‘them’ to require too much time-wasting efforts to hide from the electorate what ‘they’ are up to until it was too late to stop them.
that’s the reason for these recent changes, so that ‘they’ can far more quickly and effortlessly get and do what ‘they’ want, what ‘they’ need, which is an endless expansion of construction/development, paving and building over everything, till there’s nothing left to pave and build over. and, ‘they’ don’t have to worry of ever being stopped because these new changes to government will make it impossible to ever reverse these changes.
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