PUBLIC LAND
GREENBELT · ONTARIO PLACE · WHO BENEFITS?
Protected farmland, Greenbelt land, and public waterfront are being opened for development — often after opaque processes that benefit well-connected landowners and developers more than communities.
Greenbelt swapsOntario Place spa dealDeveloper access
Greenbelt scandal
The Auditor General and RCMP investigations documented land-use changes that favoured specific properties.
- Provincial land swaps removed Greenbelt protections from selected parcels while adding elsewhere.
- Some landowners benefited from re-zoning and access decisions shortly before public announcements.
- Farmland and watershed protection were traded for sprawl-friendly development patterns.
- The Greenbelt was created to be permanent — political reversals undermine trust in all conservation policy.
- Communities were not given meaningful input before boundaries were redrawn.
Ontario Place & waterfront
A public cultural and recreational waterfront is being handed to a private Austrian spa operator.
- Ontario Place privatization replaces public access and cultural space with a commercial thermal spa.
- The footprint and public benefit of the original Ontario Place vision have been sharply reduced.
- Waterfront land in Toronto belongs to the public — not a single term of government.
- Similar patterns appear wherever public land is "leased" to private operators for decades.
- Ask: who profits, who pays maintenance costs, and what public access remains?
Sprawl & accountability
When land rules change in favour of developers, housing affordability and climate targets suffer.
- Opening protected land encourages car-dependent sprawl instead of infill and transit-oriented growth.
- Infrastructure costs for sprawl are borne by municipalities and provincial taxpayers.
- Backroom land deals are difficult to challenge without public records and journalism.
- ProtectOnt.ca/receipts tracks timelines and documented connections — verify and share.