‘Owning a home not an option’: How PCs made housing unaffordable while stripping environmental protection

It was a secretive promise that echoed across Ontario’s political landscape: Doug Ford, standing before a room filled with developers in 2018, assured them—“We will open up the Greenbelt, not all of it, we’re going to open a big chunk of it up and we’re going to start building”.

Soon after, when video of the meeting leaked sparking widespread backlash, in a high-stakes pivot, he vowed: “We won’t touch the Greenbelt.” A promise that would be broken again and again over the next six years.

It was a political tightrope act, promising powerful developers who contributed to Ford’s election campaigns that the Greenbelt would be opened up for expensive sprawl subdivisions, while simultaneously telling voters he would do no such thing.

It was one piece of the problem in Ontario’s growing affordable housing crisis, as builders licked their lips over the future profits to be gained from wrong-sized housing far away from where much more affordable units needed to be constructed along transit corridors and next to existing infrastructure in already urbanized parts of the GTA.

On May 30, 2018, Ford unveiled his Party’s election platform, Plan for the People, pledging to ‘preserve rent control for existing tenants and increase the supply of affordable housing in the Greater Toronto Area’.

Later that year, the newly elected PC government under Ford’s leadership eliminated rent control for new residential buildings, maintaining it only for units occupied before November 15, 2018. The government defended this policy shift, arguing that it encouraged housing development.

Few agreed. 

Ontario Liberal Leader at the time—and now Vaughan Mayor—Steven Del Duca criticized the move, stating it only deepened the affordability crisis, and vowed to restore rent control to its pre-2018 form, ensuring landlords could only increase rent at a regulated rate, typically between 0.5 percent and three percent per year. Advocates across the GTA said Ford’s move was sure to make housing even more unaffordable.  

Del Duca argued that the two-tiered system would drive up costs, fueling speculative condo investments, with investors snapping up newly built units for profit rather than long-term rentals.

While the government’s rent control changes were aimed at stimulating new rental construction, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce questioned whether removing price regulations was an effective solution.

In 2019, Ontario introduced the More Homes, More Choice Act, a key piece of legislation under its More Homes, More Choice: Ontario’s Housing Supply Action Plan. The government presented it as a sweeping solution to the province’s housing crisis, claiming it would remove unnecessary red tape, speed up development and make it easier to build new homes. 

“When fully implemented by 2022, efforts to streamline development approvals will result in accelerated timelines and cost savings,” the PC government claimed.

In 2021, just a few months before the 2022 provincial election, Ford formed a task force on housing affordability, with a mandate to provide recommendations "to make housing more affordable for Ontario families," according to the announcement in the fall economic statement mini-budget in November 2021.

Taking the number provided by the housing task force, Ford had promised to build 1.5 million new homes by 2031 as part of his 2022 election campaign pledge.

By the government's own figures, housing development was gaining momentum. 

Investment in new residential units across Ontario reached $25.6 billion in 2020—$4.5 billion more than the previous year. More houses began construction in 2020 than in any year over the past decade, and by 2021, housing starts had climbed even higher. Rental construction also surged, with 2020 seeing the highest number of new rental units built since 1992. On paper, Ford’s government seemed to be making good on its promise to increase housing supply.

The reality was that much of these gains were already in the pipeline before Ford was first elected in the middle of 2018. A year later, the benefits of planning processes driven by municipal approvals, under Liberal-era growth targets including dense, complete community designs along transit corridors and in walkable urban areas, could be seen.

After Ford had been in power for less than two years, municipal approvals started to slow dramatically as the PCs rammed through MZOs (Ministerial Zoning Orders) and other policies which overrode local planning decisions and processes, scaring many builders away and making it difficult for municipal planners to adjust. 

In Mississauga, for example, to the end of January 2019, under building and approval policies dictated by the previous Liberal government, the value of permits over one year was $640 million. A year later, to the end of January 2020, the figure under PC policies fell off a cliff, to just under $33 million and a year later, to the end of January 2021, the value of building permits issued by the City over twelve months was just $170 million. It rebounded to $514 million a year later but in the twelve months ending in January of 2023, Mississauga only issued $80 million worth of building permits. 

The province’s second largest city, which has attracted significant construction investment for more than a decade with a market that offers high potential returns, is a good barometer of how effective the provincial government’s housing policies are.  

But even for those buyers who were able to snap up a house or condo, affordability over the last seven years under Ford’s watch has become a mirage.

By 2021, Ontario’s housing market was spiralling further out of reach for the average buyer. For the second straight year, home prices across the province jumped at an unprecedented rate, as affordability concerns were no longer confined to the GTA. Prices were soaring everywhere.

Every sector tracked by the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) reached all-time highs in December 2021, closing out a year of record-breaking prices.

Toronto’s housing market shattered records, closing 2021 with 119,532 home sales—beating the previous high of 112,288 set in 2016. The average home price (including all categories) climbed to $1,342,444, marking a 23 percent increase from 2020 and a staggering 39 percent jump from 2019. Meanwhile, even condo prices averaged $702,356, rising 11 percent year-over-year.

Into 2022, the trajectory kept climbing, before cooling off due to the end of low interest rates.

But beyond the GTA, the trend continued. 

Mississauga’s real estate market hit record highs, with detached home prices jumping by nearly $400,000 (27.7 percent) in just 12 months. Semi-detached homes saw a similar spike, rising 27.9 percent from December 2020 to December 2021. Condo apartments and townhouses followed suit, increasing by 26.4 percent and 26.5 percent, respectively. And by the spring of 2022 detached houses in the city were selling for $1.76 million, on average, while apartment-style condos sold for an average of $735,000.

 

(Realtors Association of Hamilton-Burlington)

 

The average residential property price across the Hamilton-Burlington region hit $867,560 in 2021—up 25.7 percent from 2020. A decade earlier, in 2011, the average price sat at just $321,449, representing a 170 percent surge over ten years.

Critics at the Ontario Chamber of Commerce acknowledged at the time that the province’s housing affordability crisis stemmed largely from a lack of supply.

“We’re going to offer a 1,600-square-foot home, with a basement that’s finished that you can rent out or have family there. You’re going to have a backyard with a fence. You’re going to have a paved driveway—under $500,000,” Ford said at an event in 2023.

To make this happen, the PC government introduced Bill 185, the Cutting Red Tape to Build More Homes Act in 2024 giving greenfield developers unrestricted power to build costly single-family homes on farmland, natural areas, and waterways, while eliminating mandates to focus growth within established communities and limiting municipal control over expansion. 

It also revoked the public’s ability to challenge these developments at the Ontario Land Tribunal which mediates planning and building related disputes.

Fast forward to 2024-25.

The latest data from the Canadian Real Estate Association revealed that average single-family home prices in southern Ontario remain steep, ranging from $1.33 million in Mississauga to $1.45 million in Oakville.

While homeownership remains unattainable for many, housing starts have stalled.

In the fall economic statement tabled by Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy, the government projected a decline in projected housing starts over the next few years. The 2024 budget initially forecasted 87,900 housing starts for this year, but that number was revised down to 81,300. This figure falls significantly short of the 125,000 new homes the government had aimed to build in 2024, according to the same statement.

The PCs, under Bill 23, the controversial legislation aimed at getting more homes online by the end of 2031, set an ambitious target of 1.5 million new units by their deadline, which is now just six years away.  

To reach this ambitious goal, the province would have needed to build at least 150,000 homes each year—a target that now seems increasingly out of reach, especially with the ongoing tariff issues sparked by the U.S..

Despite only reaching about half the target, Ford insists the target is still achievable.

In early 2024, Ford cut large cheques to municipalities that met their specific housing targets (Mississauga’s is 120,000 new units by 2031 and Brampton’s is 113,000) through the Building Faster Fund (BFF). Among the beneficiaries was Windsor, where Ford showered praise on Mayor Drew Dilkens, a fellow Conservative, despite the city’s underwhelming performance.

At a Windsor press conference, Ford confidently stated, “I love Mayor Dilkens. I know he’s going to do a great job. I think he was at 36 percent but I'm confident he's going to hit those targets,” Ford said.

The city expected to see 953 new homes in 2023, yet the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) reported only 606 housing starts. By Ford’s own preferred metric, this was hardly a victory—but indulgence was in no short supply when it came to Dilkens. 

Mississauga, on the other hand, saw more than 3,400 new homes, hitting 39 percent of its target. But rather than receiving the same encouragement, Mississauga’s numbers were met with a far colder reception and the city was denied funding by Ford.

Bonnie Crombie’s relationship with him took a sharp turn when she announced her bid to lead the Ontario Liberal Party. As a potential political threat, Ford attacked the housing numbers over recent years (since the pandemic) but did not do the same for mayors such as Dilkens and others who are more politically aligned, raising serious concerns that the PCs are playing politics with housing during an ongoing crisis.

Mississauga Mayor Carolyn Parrish has been outspoken about how underfunded the city is, particularly when it comes to essential infrastructure and flood mitigation efforts. She has repeatedly called on the provincial government to address the growing financial gap, arguing that Mississauga—Ontario’s third largest and one of its fastest-growing cities—is not receiving its fair share of funding, as evidenced by Ford’s unwillingness to provide it with money from the Building Faster Fund, despite numbers that show Mississauga did a better job on housing than cities that did receive funding.

The issue goes beyond just Mississauga—throughout Peel Region, communities are feeling the squeeze of underfunded public services.

The Metamorphosis Network, a coalition of more than 100 non-profits, is sounding the alarm about a growing crisis in funding for essential services across Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon. 

In February, the group launched the ‘Cut in Half’ campaign, with a clear message: while Peel’s population is growing, provincial funding for community services is not. Peel receives $868 million less in funding compared to similar communities like Toronto, with every resident effectively losing out on $578 in essential services annually.

 

(The Metamorphosis Network)

 

“This must stop now. Residents of Peel deserve the same services people get everywhere else in the province. It is not fair that people in our communities get less and wait longer for services. We want Provincial candidates to pledge their support and commit to making a real plan to

solve the problem,” Indus Community Services’ chief executive officer Gurpreet Malhotra said in a statement.

One of their campaign posters features half of a house, alongside the tagline: “People can’t find affordable homes when Ontario underfunds housing.” It underscores a harsh reality—investment in affordable housing stock in Peel remains a fraction of what other urban centers receive.

Beyond Ford’s selective funding, some municipal leaders have called into question the fairness of the BFF program itself. 

Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward has been particularly vocal, arguing that the criteria used to judge municipalities are "inappropriate and inaccurate," often considering factors beyond their control.

In a letter dated February 14, 2024, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Paul Calandra highlighted that Burlington had only met 27 percent of its housing target for 2023. The city's target was to start construction on 2,127 homes, but it only managed 300 housing starts, 28 conversions, and 256 long-term care beds. According to the criteria set by the BFF program, municipalities must meet or surpass 80 percent of their designated housing goal to be eligible for funding.

In her response, Meed Ward expressed deep concern, writing that Burlington’s inability to qualify for the fund jeopardizes the city’s ability to fulfill its housing commitment of 29,000 homes by 2031, potentially putting residents at risk.

High interest rates, labour shortages, and supply chain disruptions are all major hurdles in housing construction—factors that municipalities have no control over. If developers can’t secure the materials or workforce they need, there’s little a city can do to move projects forward.

“It counts housing starts through foundations poured, which is outside the municipality’s control,” Meed Ward said in her letter. “To date, we have a total of 41,612 units in our permit pipeline, 4,256 of which have been approved. We are doing our part in this way and we are focusing on what we can control.”

Crombie pointed out the same issues when she was mayor, underscoring that Mississauga had no control over housing starts, only the approval and issuance of building permits. If builders chose not to move forward, even with a permit in hand, she argued the municipality should not be punished. Ford ignored the point.

Affordable housing has been a particular problem under Ford, with the most dire consequences.

In 2018, the federal government had signed a $5.8 billion bilateral agreement with Ontario to support affordable housing. In return, the provincial government pledged to build 19,660 units. Yet, years later, it had managed to deliver only 1,184—a mere fraction of what was promised.

Frustrated by the province’s sluggish progress, the federal government demanded that Ontario go back to the drawing board, rewrite its housing plan, and submit a proposal that reflected the scale of the crisis—or risk losing the funding altogether.

Ford, meanwhile, has prioritized the type of housing pushed by the powerful development industry which became evident in 2018 when during his first provincial election campaign, he promised to open up a significant portion of the Greenbelt at the request of "some of the biggest developers in this country." 

The 413 Highway project was critical to developers, who bought up massive swaths of land along the corridor to build sprawling subdivisions immediately below the Greenbelt. The value of each property would increase four to ten times with a major 400-series highway alongside. 

Scandals involving Ford’s government and developers who owned land along the future highway route, exposed his lack of interest in building affordable housing where it’s needed most to finally end the ongoing crisis.

“The politicization of decision-making has been extreme…it's very clear that the government makes decisions about what lands to zone, how to zone them based on the benefit that accrues to people that are close to the government and important donors,” Environmental Defence’s Executive Director, Tim Gray told The Pointer. 

The proposed Highway 413 route not only cuts through the Greenbelt but also impacts Peel residents under Bill 212, as the Ford government expropriates land and homes, including those of many in Caledon.

(Environmental Defence)

 

In August 2023, Ontario Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk exposed the extent of this influence, revealing how the PC government systematically worked to fulfill promises made to powerful building-sector donors. 

In June 2022, Ford directed the housing minister at the time, Steve Clark, to develop a framework for "swaps, expansions, contractions and policy updates for the Greenbelt."

A month later, Ford’s office selected a political staffer to secretly execute the Greenbelt construction approvals, precisely where at least two developers had instructed the PCs to allow land swaps. 

This backroom maneuvering came to light when it was revealed that, at a September 2022 dinner hosted by the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD, which serves the interests of Ontario’s powerful development companies), the political staffer received envelopes containing instructions from the developers. 

The very next day, a parcel of Greenbelt land in King Township was sold to one of the developers for $80 million. This was part of approximately 6,800 acres controlled by two developers—out of the 7,400 acres Ford eventually approved for development.

Lysyk estimated that Ford’s decision would boost the value of land held by those two developers by nearly $8 billion. 

"This was a flawed process. This was a biased process. We think what we saw was preferential treatment," Lysyk stated in a press conference following the release of her report.

“All roads lead to the Premier’s office. There is no way that in a scandal of this size, one rookie chief of staff was the mastermind behind it,” Ontario Liberal MPP John Fraser stated, criticizing Ford and Clark for trying to dust their hands off from the controversy by placing the blame solely on Clark’s chief of staff at the time.

The audit, requested by opposition party leaders, found that the lands selected for removal were neither chosen objectively nor transparently. Chief planners in affected regions confirmed there was already ample land available for development outside the Greenbelt, making Ford’s justification for its removal baseless. The government’s own Housing Affordability Task Force had previously reached the same conclusion.

"I just don't understand why the government is still pushing for new developments in green spaces when there’s plenty of ‘white land’ available for development for the next 50 years. The issue is that this land within urban boundaries is more expensive due to its higher value. It all seems to come down to maximizing the profits of developers," Ontario Tech University’s Professor of Biological Science, Andrea Kirkwood had told The Pointer.

Despite these findings, Ford has refused to revisit the decision to remove lands from the Greenbelt, rejecting Lysyk’s key recommendation. Instead, he and Minister Clark claimed the process was driven by an urgency to address the housing crisis—a claim Lysyk’s audit dismantled. The report details how the Ford government ignored expert recommendations, failed to consult environmental groups and Indigenous communities, and bypassed transparency measures enshrined in Ontario’s Environmental Bill of Rights (EBR).

In 2024, Ontario’s 14th Auditor General, Shelley Spence, reached the same conclusions once again with the independent watchdog’s report raising serious concerns, exposing the provincial government’s ongoing disregard for public input and its failure to transparently disclose the environmental consequences of significant legislative changes.

“Over the past decade, we have found cases almost every year where ministries did not meet their EBR requirements to consult the public. In 2023/24, Ontarians were denied their EBR right to be consulted about three environmentally significant laws,” the report highlights, adding that 18 percent of the proposal notices the auditor general reviewed “left out important information for the public to fully understand the proposals, including about their environmental implications.”

The 2023 report by the independent watchdog revealed further favouritism, showing that of 630 site removal requests since 2005, only 22 were reviewed—21 handpicked by Clark’s chief of staff. Developers dictated the outcome, submitting documents specifying the land they wanted to be removed. 

"Doug Ford has previously called the Greenbelt a scam, but the Auditor General’s report clearly indicates where the scam is," Andrew McCammon, executive director of the Ontario Headwaters Institute told The Pointer.

After months of backlash and resignations by several staffers and two of his ministers, Ford finally decided to reverse his decision in September of 2023 through Bill 136, the Greenbelt Statute Law Amendment Act.

“I am very, very sorry…It was a mistake to open the Greenbelt. It was a mistake to establish a process that moved too fast,” he said.

Meanwhile, the housing crisis worsened, targets for new starts are becoming harder to reach and more residents across the province are giving up on home ownership.

 

In 2005, Ontario established the Greenbelt to shield agricultural and environmentally sensitive lands in the Greater Golden Horseshoe region from development.

(Greenbelt Foundation)

 

How did Ontario get here?

“They (PC government) basically threw out the manual for urban planning in the Golden Horseshoe. I mean, they literally cancelled the growth plan. They made massive changes to the provincial planning statement, they mandated massive sprawl, massive expansion of urban boundaries,” Gray explained.

“They’ve pivoted away from 30 years of efforts to increase density in existing towns and cities, instead reverting to a 1950s-style model that promotes sprawl on farmland. The approach they've taken, especially in suburban areas, is the opposite of what’s sustainable. It contradicts everything we know improves social values, human health, productivity, carbon emissions, pollution, quality of life, and mental health.”

A new first-of-its-kind report from the Canadian Climate Institute acknowledges that “more housing is critical to improving affordability—as long as it’s built in the right places.”

If housing continues to be built in areas vulnerable to wildfires and flooding, homeowners, renters, and governments could face billions in annual disaster relief and rebuilding costs, the report warns.

On the flip side, shifting development away from high-risk zones could save billions.

The housing crisis isn’t isolated to Ontario, it is a national issue.

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation estimates that 5.8 million homes need to be built by 2030 to meet affordability targets.

However, more than 220,000 of these new homes will be built in areas exposed to high wildfire risk, and over 530,000 in high flood hazard zones, resulting in damages of up to $3 billion annually, on top of the billions already spent on disaster relief for existing homes.

In 2024, damages from extreme weather set a record, with more than $8.5 billion in insured losses, making it Canada’s costliest year.

The Greenbelt alone provides $3.2 billion annually in ecosystem services, including $224 million per year in flood protection for private property and $52 million per year in carbon sequestration. Developing in the Greenbelt puts residents at greater risk from the dangers of climate change.

Redirecting about three percent of the homes targeted for construction by 2030 away from the highest flood-hazard areas would reduce Canada’s flood risk to new housing by up to 80 percent, according to the Climate Institute’s research.

But the PCs continue to take the opposite approach.

In October 2022, the Ford government introduced Bill 23, the More Homes Built Faster Act, a complex piece of legislation found to have severe negative consequences on nine key environmental and development-related statutes, all framed as solutions to the housing shortage.

Among the most concerning changes were those severely weakening Ontario’s Conservation Authorities, cutting their funding and mandating them to identify “surplus land” for housing development.

“Conservation authority lands are often located in floodplains and help to protect against flooding and erosion. They offer trails and other outdoor amenities that contribute to public well-being and they protect important sources of drinking water and biodiversity. They also contribute to climate change adaptation measures by capturing emissions, cooling temperatures, and protecting water quality,” Conservation Ontario, the umbrella organization for Ontario’s Conservation Areas, said in a statement.

One of the first to act in line with the province’s directive was the Grand River Conservation Area (GRCA), which moved to sell 20 acres of land in Guelph, part of the former Kortright Waterfowl Park. The land’s real estate value skyrocketed from $2,750 per acre in 1977 to around $1 million per acre in 2024, totalling about $20 million for that parcel.

 

(Grand River Conservation Area)

 

The GRCA identified eight additional parcels for sale within the Grand River watershed.

These lands were among the 36 Conservation Areas across Ontario that Ford had instructed to create an inventory of “land suitable for housing and housing infrastructure” to be disposed of as surplus by December 31, 2024.

That’s not all that Bill 23 did. 

ACORN Canada, an independent national housing organization representing low-and-moderate-income residents, identified the legislation as “devastating for low- and moderate-income renters,” simply “accelerating evictions and homelessness”. 

While the Bill aims to deliver 1.5 million new homes by the end of 2031, there is a major catch: much of this housing will be unaffordable for the very people it is meant to help. 

The Act significantly alters the definition of "affordable" housing by reducing the requirement for developers to set aside only five percent of units as affordable, compared to the previous 20-30 percent that cities could mandate through their own Inclusionary Zoning policies.

It also shortens the duration these units remain affordable, as they will only stay affordable for 25 years before returning to the market.

It waters down tenant protections. Tenants in cities like Toronto and Mississauga who had the right to return after demolition or condo conversion may lose this right under the legislation, and cities like Brampton, Hamilton and Ottawa would no longer be able to draft rental replacement bylaws. 

And it exempts builders from paying certain development charges that have traditionally funded crucial infrastructure such as roads, water and sewer systems, community centers, libraries, policing and fire services and waste management, leaving municipalities and taxpayers to cover the costs of growing communities. 

This only deepens the affordability crisis and strains public services, putting the burden on property tax payers (renters also see their rates increase).

Rather than investing more in housing, the PCs instead spent approximately $43.2 million on the “Let’s Build Ontario” housing campaign—money that went toward television ads in costly prime-time slots, including during NHL games and the Super Bowl, as per the 2024 Auditor General’s report.

Ford’s development strategy has consistently undermined environmental and planning regulations. His government has expanded urban boundaries despite municipal opposition (some argued farmland and greenspaces are not needed for more housing with plenty of land available in areas already zoned for housing), weakened conservation authorities, fast-tracked development permits, and significantly increased the use of Minister’s Zoning Orders (MZOs) to bypass standard local approval processes. 

Despite mounting criticism, Ford and Clark accepted all but one of Lysyk’s 15 recommendations—the one calling for the reversal of Greenbelt land removals. 

Ontario's Integrity Commissioner J. David Wake also concluded that Clark had breached ethical guidelines leading to his resignation shortly after the report was made public.

Two months following the 2023 Auditor General’s report, the RCMP revealed on October 10 the same year that it had initiated a criminal investigation into Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s proposal to open Greenbelt land for development.

With a snap election in just over a week, the RCMP investigation findings are nowhere to be seen.

Ford has refused to do media interviews and has kept most of his campaign events private, while claiming his housing plan is getting more Ontarians closer to their dream of home ownership.

“I definitely don’t see it being an option in the near future,” Brampton resident Anna Persaud told The Pointer. “But I don’t think it’s necessary to build it on the Greenbelt, I think we have a fair amount of housing available already, it’s just making those homes more affordable. 

“I know we might have a housing shortage but we could quite literally build homes anywhere else. The Greenbelt is protected land for a reason, is it not?”

Persaud is right. A study by the Alliance for a Liveable Ontario (ALO)—a coalition of farmers, housing advocates, environmentalists, healthcare workers, academics, and developers—found that existing urban areas and municipally designated land from 2021 can accommodate over 2 million homes. 

Solving Ontario’s housing crisis requires building in the right places—within cities and towns rather than on farmland or natural areas—while prioritizing diverse housing types, including multi-residential, low-rise, and mid-rise buildings, instead of solely focusing on high-rise condos or single-family homes, and making significant investments in non-market affordable housing, a November 2024 ALO report card on the province’s housing actions recommended.

Environmental Defence’s program manager of land use and Ontario environment and counsel Phil Pothen has six recommendations to meet Ontario’s housing target:

1. Permit six-storey apartment buildings on all major residential streets and avenues, and four-storey buildings on every suburban, city, and small-town residential lot across Ontario.
2. Allow simple wood-frame construction, eliminate parking minimums, remove “step-back” requirements, legalize single-staircase designs for buildings up to six storeys, and permit mass timber construction for buildings up to eight storeys.
3. Reverse all rural land designations for sprawl development made since 2022, require at least 100 people per hectare on previously designated land, and permanently expand the Greenbelt to protect southern Ontario’s farmland and natural areas.
4. Stop funding inefficient developments, starting with the cancellation of the $10B Highway 413 project.
5. Prioritize funding for deeply affordable public and non-market housing, especially during market slowdowns.
6. Increase bus service, fast-track approvals and funding for bus rapid transit lanes, and install them on existing arterial and collector roads to make suburbs and towns more accessible without cars.

 

Multiple scandals and widespread dissatisfaction with his handling of key issues have led to low approval ratings of Ford among voters, according to an October poll by the non-profit Angus Reid Institute.

It found that more than four in five Ontarians believe the government has performed poorly on housing affordability (84 percent), health care (80 percent), and the rising cost of living (81 percent), the three most pressing concerns identified by residents. 

 

84 percent Ontarians believed the PC government was doing a poor or very poor job when it comes to housing affordability.

(Angus Reid Institute)

 

Since the fall of 2022, more than 70 percent of Ontarians have consistently rated Ford’s performance on these critical issues as poor. Despite this ongoing perception, the PCs remain far ahead of their political rivals, with at least 40 percent of respondents in recent polls indicating they would vote for the Party, while the Liberals and NDP split approximately 50 percent of the vote, which would pave the way for another powerful PC majority government under Ford’s leadership.

“My sense is that the government’s perceived popularity heading into the election may be tied to fears about economic and sovereignty threats from the U.S. When people feel threatened, they tend to stick with the status quo—it’s a natural psychological response,” Gray says.

If roughly 40 percent support could be considered “perceived popularity” it highlights the key problem in a first-past-the-post (winner take all) electoral system. Regardless of Ford’s obvious failures, with his policies only worsening the housing crisis, if voters keep splitting their vote among the three major opposition parties, Ontario seems destined for another four years of Doug Ford.

“However, people are beginning to see the reality of the government’s failures in areas it actually controls, like healthcare, infrastructure, and transportation. Trade policy is a federal responsibility, so it’s unclear what supporters of the PC government expect in terms of U.S. relations, given that Ontario has no real control over it,” Gray points out.

Critics have questioned Ford’s claim of needing to call a snap election to deal with the U.S.. Even if that is a genuine concern, he already had a powerful majority government to do that. Meanwhile, housing, healthcare, education, transportation and Ontario’s environment – the critical matters he is actually responsible for – have barely been discussed by the man who wants to lead the province for another four years. 

Gray hopes voters make their decision using the real issues facing Ontario, ones that will immediately impact residents for years to come.

 

(Doug Ford/X)

Some of the comments on Ford’s X post, where people share their thoughts on his latest campaign activity… in Washington DC.

(Doug Ford/X)

 

“But you never know until the election is over…we'll see how the people of Ontario vote with all the information that they have at hand and where they seem to say they want to go. So we'll see what they choose.”

 

 

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Email: [email protected]

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