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King Mayor, Steve Pellegrini, believes the Province can put a hospital anywhere in the Greenbelt (or outside) they deem suitable. By repeatedly insisting on this, he puts himself at odds with the Chief Planner of York Region, Paul Freeman, who says a new hospital in the Greenbelt should go to a settlement (or built up area) rather than on prime agricultural lands.

Global News sums up the issue here.

Pellegrini told the King Sentinel yesterday:

“Notably, the Province does not require the removal of lands from the Greenbelt to build a hospital. They may build Provincial infrastructure on any lands that they deem suitable.”

Steve Pellegrini is a four term Mayor with decades of experience on the staff of the City of Brampton who should know better. (He is no longer in the staff directory so he may have moved on.) He is totally familiar with municipal practice so why does he keep getting it wrong? He has immediate access to the best advice available. He could pick up the phone today and talk to Paul Freeman.

Perhaps he relied on advice from the professional staff at King who may believe a hospital can be built absolutely anywhere. I don’t know. 

Open to discussion

In any event, Pellegrini told the Sentinel the idea of a hospital in King was not a new one.

“I have been moving this idea forward since 2019 – on different lands, with different landowners. At the time of our meeting, I brought the idea of a hospital forward to the Rice Group and they were open to discussion.”

Last month I filed a Freedom of Information request for sight of emails, meeting notes and internal memos from 2019 onwards relating to the scan or sweep of lands which might be suitable for a new Southlake hospital.

And since there has been so much confusion about who met whom and when I’ve asked for sight of records showing the dates in 2022 when Mayor Pellegrini and/or Township staff met Michael Rice, the owner of the (now former) Greenbelt lands.

I emailed Mayor Pellegrini on 24 January 2023, copied to the Township Clerk, asking if he would let me know who called the in-person meeting on 1 November 2022 and for what purpose. I am waiting to hear from him. (To read the email click “read more” below.) 
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See also Global News on 9 February 2023: Integrity commissioner clears Doug Ford after developers attend daughter’s stag and doe.

And from the Toronto Star on 10 February 2023.

Update on 14 February 2023: The Globe and Mail editorial: Developers at daughter's wedding only deepen the mystery over Ford's Greenbelt decision. And the Toronto Star editorial: There's every reason for Ford Government to be vigilant in dealings with developers.

Update on 18 February 2023: From Newmarket Today: Greenbelt Hospital: Environmentalists push back against King proposal

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Michael Rice - the developer who bought 687 acres of Greenbelt land in King on 15 September 2022 - helped bankroll Dawn Gallagher Murphy's election campaign for Queen's Park last June. 

Rice - who doesn’t live in the riding - donated $2,000 to the Progressive Conservative candidate and a further $1,087 to her Newmarket Aurora Constituency Association. 

Rice bought the Greenbelt lands next to Newmarket from Bob Schickedanz who, at the time, was President of the Ontario Home Builders Association. The lands are now worth many times more than the $80M Rice paid for them as they can now be developed.

On 21 December 2022 the Provincial Government removed the Rice lands from the Greenbelt and designated a new settlement area on the Oak Ridges Moraine which runs across part of his new land holding.

On 1 November 2022 Rice told the Mayor of King, Steve Pellegrini, during an in-person meeting which involved representatives of Southlake that he would make land available for a new Southlake hospital campus for a “nominal fee”.

I have asked Southlake to explain when they first learned that the land needed for a new acute hospital had been offered to them by Rice for a nominal fee. I have also asked for sight of their records of the 1 November 2022 meeting.

After her election as Newmarket-Aurora’s Progressive Conservative MPP Dawn Gallagher Murphy said she would champion the expansion of Southlake Regional Health Centre.

Gallagher Murphy was appointed by Doug Ford as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Health.

Rice also donated to Tom Vegh’s campaign for Regional Councillor in 2018. The Financial Statements for last October’s municipal election are not yet publicly available.

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Since the announcement on 4 November 2022 by the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Steve Clark, that certain lands were to be removed from the Greenbelt there has been press comment, asserting as fact, that hospitals can be built on the Greenbelt. 

This CBC report from 2 December 2022 is typical:

“The land in King is located on a vast expanse of farmland across from a Newmarket subdivision. It includes areas designated as “protected countryside” and “natural heritage system,” two of the highest levels of greenbelt protection.”

“Under current provincial regulations, building a hospital on such land would be permitted and not require rezoning.”

But is this correct? If so, a hospital could be built on prime agricultural land in, say, the Holland Marsh or on the Oak Ridges Moraine outside of a settlement area.

Mayor Pellegrini: a fool or a knave?

The four-term Mayor of King, Steve Pellegrini, insists that the Greenbelt could accommodate a new hospital. He says he has been scouring his municipality since 2019 looking for a site. He told Global News on 1 February 2023 that a new hospital could be built on the Greenbelt under Provincial regulations.

He is wrong. 

If a hospital could be built absolutely anywhere in the Greenbelt it could, as I say, be plonked in the middle of the Holland Marsh – one of the most fertile and productive prime agricultural areas in the entire country. That would be a nonsense.

Did no-one in King’s planning staff tell Pellegrini that, yes, a hospital could be located in a “settlement area” (or designated built up area) in the Greenbelt but otherwise the Greenbelt was out-of-bounds?

Hospitals should be located in settlement areas

The Chief Planner of York Region, the hugely experienced Paul Freeman, appears to agree that hospitals should be located in settlement areas in the Greenbelt, not on prime agricultural land. (Photo right) 

I asked him the simple, straightforward question: can a hospital be built on the Greenbelt?

And this is what he told me earlier today:

“The planning system in Ontario is based on a conformity hierarchy, meaning to be permitted in a zoning by-law a land use must conform to the local official plan, which must conform to the Regional official plan (in this case prime agricultural designation), which must conform to Provincial Plans (Greenbelt Plan or Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan (ORMCP), and Growth Plan). Only the Province can change Provincial Plans.

In our interpretation, a hospital would be considered institutional and directed to settlement areas given the agricultural designation on the subject lands. As I’ve indicated above, only after the use is permitted in the Greenbelt Plan or ORMCP can official plans and zoning bylaws be amended to be consistent with and permit the use at the local level.

Now that the lands have been removed from the Greenbelt, presumably natural heritage features will still be protected and the official plan and zoning by-law will be amended to reflect the Province’s direction. This is necessary to enable development applications and building permits. I would anticipate the Province will be issuing a Minister’s Zoning Order to further define how development on these lands is to proceed.”

So there we have it. Prior to Clark’s announcement on 4 November 2022 to open up certain parts of the Greenbelt to development, a hospital would not have been permitted on the lands in King south of Miller’s Side Road, east of Dufferin and west of Bathurst as these did not include a settlement area. The formal decision on 21 December 2022 to remove these lands from the Greenbelt and to redesignate a portion of the Oak Ridges Moraine as a settlement area (see plan below) has changed all that.

Impossible

At the in-person meeting on 1 November 2022 involving Mayor Pellegrini, Michael Rice and representatives from Southlake there was talk of putting a hospital on the Rice lands. But that was impossible given the regulations applying on that date. 

Clearly, someone somewhere was tipped off that three days later, on 4 November 2022, things were going to change.

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It came as a terrible shock to learn that Dave Kerwin died earlier today. He had been playing tennis and died in hospital. He was 84. 

Dave Kerwin was a fixture in municipal politics for decades. He was likeable and engaging. I thought he was a terrific guy. When he stood down from Newmarket Council in 2018 he was the longest serving councillor in Canada. 

At the time he said:

“Newmarket is tattooed on my soul.”

This is Dave with his wife Erika.

More to follow....

 

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Newmarket-Aurora’s Progressive Conservative MPP, Dawn Gallagher Murphy, cruised to victory in last June’s Provincial Election in a campaign that steamrolled her rivals. 

Newmarket Today’s Joseph Quigley reports:

The Conservative wracked up $122,025 in campaign expenses as she garnered 44.9 per cent of the vote and 18,649 votes total, more than 5,000 votes clear of Liberal Sylvain Roy, who got 31.4 per cent.

In comparison, Roy’s campaign had $24,363 in expenses, less than 20 per cent of what Gallagher Murphy’s campaign spent. NDP’s Denis Heng, who came in third with 12.7 per cent of the vote, had his campaign spend $47,395.

No-show

Gallagher Murphy, the former MPP’s Office Manager, was a no-show at all election debates. But she compensated for this invisibility by splurging $43,565 on campaign advertising and $21,326 on brochures. She was everywhere.

She spent an eye-watering $5,228 on hosting meetings. I spent a modest $25 booking the Newmarket Public Library for a candidates’ debate at last October’s municipal election – even though my opponent disappointingly didn’t turn up. He too was elected, very handsomely.

Call me old fashioned but, personally, I prefer the old ways where candidates debate face-to-face on a public platform, taking the questions as they come.

Frank Klees and Michael Rice

Gallagher Murphy’s list of doners includes former MPP and now professional lobbyist Frank Klees (who donated $500) and Michael Rice ($2,000). 

I do not immediately know if this is the same Michael Rice who bought the Greenbelt lands in King on 15 September 2022 for $80M. Someone should ask her.

I was surprised to see Gallagher Murphy spend $5,802 on her Victory Party which looked quite a gentle affair.

The guidelines Gallagher Murphy would have followed when completing her election return are set out here.

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See also on (municipal) campaign finance: From the Toronto Star: Do you want to check how much money your councillor spent on the last campaign? Good luck.

 Donors to Gallagher Murphy's campaign:

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