GUELPH POLITICAST #Repeat – How the Greenbelt Was Won (feat. Kevin Thomason)

It was about this time last year that the so-called Greenbelt scandal blew-up. Although the issue had been simmering since fall 2022, the persistent efforts of journalists and activists to get to the bottom of the decision to separate and sell-off portions of protected land resulted in the land being restored, the minister responsible replaced, and the RCMP looking into whether or not anything criminal happened.

It started with the Ontario government’s plan to remove parcels of the Greenbelt and allow for new housing developments there despite Doug Ford’s promise that his government would not touch the Greenbelt. Here in Guelph, hundreds and hundreds of people came out on a cold Sunday morning to express their outrage, and so did people in other cities across Ontario, an it was an outrage that didn't burn out over the months that followed.

Then things started changing last summer. Ontario’s auditor general released a scathing report into how the Greenbelt land swap came about, and that started a chain of events ending with Ford putting all that land back. This was a few weeks after a massive protest outside Fordfest at Bingemans in Kitchener, which was organized in part by the Grand River Environmental Network. They pushed hard to save the Greenbelt, but they’re still pointing out that there’s a lot of work left to do.

This week we’re joined again by Kevin Thomason, who is the vice-chair of the Grand River Environmental Network. He’s going to talk about how GREN worked hard organizing people, why so many people took the encroachment on the Greenbelt so personally, and why Fordfest in Kitchener was Doug Ford’s Waterloo, so to speak. We will also talk about why climate change isn’t a bigger issue after the wildfire season we just experienced, and whether the provincial government has learned any lessons in the last year.

So let’s take another victory lap for the Greenbelt on this week’s Guelph Politicast!

You can learn more about the Grand River Environmental Network at their website.

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