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10 Mar, 8 tweets, 5 min read
THREAD: I've done some digging into what's driving the Ford government's push to allow the destruction of a wetland in Pickering to build a warehouse. I hope you'll read the full story. #onpoli
cbc.ca/news/canada/to…
The proposal from the wetland's landowner, Triple Group of Companies, is for the biggest retail warehouse of its kind in Canada.
Sources say the warehouse would be built for @Amazon.
A spokesperson for Amazon Canada said the company isn't commenting on its future plans. #onpoli
Less than 1 km up the hill from the wetland, in Ajax, sits a golf course property that the town recently rezoned. Its developer says there's interest from a "Fortune 50 company" to build a 2.7 million sq ft retail warehouse. My sources also tell me it would be Amazon. #onpoli
My sources say the landowners/developers of both the Pickering wetland and the Ajax golf course have pitched to Amazon to become the home of the biggest retail warehouse in Canada, and the company is waiting to see which project clears all the zoning & legal hurdles first #onpoli
None of the developers or mayors involved would confirm that Pickering wetland and Ajax golf course are competing for the Amazon warehouse. But the mayors each gave me a revealing quote. #onpoli
The owner of the Pickering wetland has launched a case against the rezoning of the Ajax golf course at Ontario's Local Planning Appeals Tribunal (what used to known as the OMB). The impact of that? It bogs down the rival developer's land in a legal process that could take months.
So to extricate the Ajax property from the appeal, its developer asked @SteveClarkPC a month ago to issue a ministerial zoning order (MZO) ... the very thing that Clark gave to the Pickering wetland owner in October to fast-track that development ... two days after the request.
Finally, one additional statement from Amazon Canada. "We take environmental issues very seriously and will discuss how to support the environment on any lease that we sign." #onpoli
cbc.ca/news/canada/to…

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More from @CBCQueensPark

Mike Crawley Profile picture
12 Mar
NEW: A developer who wants to build the biggest retail warehouse in Canada is poised to get permission today to destroy a protected wetland for the project. The Ford government ordered the Toronto Region Conservation Authority to grant the permit. #onpoli
cbc.ca/1.5945991
The developer calls the warehouse plan Project Lonestar. My sources say the prospective tenant is @amazonca. A source within Amazon says the company has not signed a commitment to the wetland site but is actively considering it, along with multiple other properties in the area. Image
The permit to be issued today would allow the developer to dump any material on the site and to remove any part of the wetland.
It's unclear exactly when the wetland destruction would begin, but a statement by the company's lawyer suggests it could happen quickly. Image
Read 6 tweets
Mike Crawley Profile picture
11 Mar
BREAKING: Premier Doug Ford accuses Indigenous NDP MPP @solmamakwa of vaccine queue-jumping.
"The member flew in to get his vaccine. Kind of jumping the line. I talked to a few chiefs that were pretty upset about that, flying into the community that he doesn't belong." ImageImage
@solmamakwa I'm told that MPP Sol Mamakwa will respond to Ford's allegation shortly, but for now NDP officials say he is a priority candidate for vaccination as he is an Indigenous adult and was asked to get vaccinated to discourage hesitancy in the community. #COVID19Ontario
Mamakwa tweeted a few days ago about getting vaccinated
Read 11 tweets
Mike Crawley Profile picture
10 Mar
NEW: What's really behind the Ford government's push to pave protected wetland in Pickering.
•Rival developers are vying to build the largest retail warehouse in Canada.
•$100s of millions are at stake. •Sources say Amazon is involved. #onpoli
cbc.ca/news/canada/to…
UPDATE: I received an email from Amazon this morning. "We are not commenting on our future roadmap, including specific operations plans," said Dave Bauer, head of communications for @Amazon Canada operations. #onpoli
Amazon Canada added in a subsequent statement by email: "We take environmental issues very seriously and will discuss how to support the environment on any lease that we sign." #onpoli
Read 5 tweets
Mike Crawley Profile picture
5 Mar
NEW: The Ford government wants to rewrite provincial law so that a key clause limiting the scope of ministerial zoning orders does not apply to MZOs ... and *never did*. #onpoli cbc.ca/news/canada/to…
TVO’s @jm_mcgrath wrote first about this legislation, tabled yesterday. Here’s his take #onpoli tvo.org/article/how-st…
@jm_mcgrath CBC News obtained an internal government document that shows the government is making the change specifically to undermine a lawsuit that aims to halt a development on the Lower Duffins Creek wetland in Pickering. #onpoli
cbc.ca/news/canada/to…
Read 7 tweets
Mike Crawley Profile picture
3 Mar
THREAD: Officials say Toronto is slower to start vaccinating its 80+ age group because the city has a disproportionate amount of health-care workers and other higher priority groups. I went looking for data to support this claim. #COVID19Ontario cbc.ca/news/canada/to…
Ontario's #COVID19 vaccination plan shows 2.1 million people eligible to be vaccinated in all of Phase 1. That's 14% of the province's total population. @TOPublicHealth estimates 325,000 people eligible in Phase 1, or 11% of Toronto's population. #COVID19Ontario Image
That evidence does *not* support Toronto's claim to be home to a disproportionate number of people in the higher-priority groups.
But I discovered something else that might help explain Toronto's slower pace ... inequitable distribution of vaccine doses. #COVID19Ontario Image
Read 6 tweets
Mike Crawley Profile picture
25 Feb
THREAD: Opposition parties are reacting to the Ford government’s move to double the annual per-person limit on political donations in Ontario ahead of next year’s election campaign. #onpoli
cbc.ca/news/canada/to…
“Doug Ford’s trying to bring back big money in politics by letting deep-pocketed donors double the amount they give to politicians,” says @TarasNatyshak of the @OntarioNDP. He calls the change a “massive cash grab.” #onpoli

cbc.ca/news/canada/to…
“Doug Ford’s Elections Act changes open the door to pay-to-play politics,” says @OntarioGreens leader @MikeSchreiner “I’m concerned the changes to donation limits will bring more big money into Ontario politics.” #onpoli
cbc.ca/news/canada/to…
Read 4 tweets

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