Ontario Liberal leadership contenders distance themselves from Bonnie Crombie Greenbelt comments

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The candidates vying for leadership of Ontario’s Liberal Party are distancing themselves from fellow contender Bonnie Crombie, after the Mississauga mayor opened the door to potential land swaps with protected Greenbelt land as long as there are what she considers proper consultations.

Ms. Crombie, the perceived front-runner in the race, launched her leadership campaign on Wednesday in front of several hundred supporters in Mississauga. She told The Globe and Mail in an interview prior to her launch that there may be “justification” in opening up parts of the Greenbelt to development, but criticized Premier Doug Ford for failing to properly explain his plan or to adequately consult with communities and stakeholders.

While calling the Greenbelt “sacred,” Ms. Crombie also said there may be occasions where local communities and municipalities want to swap lands within the Greenbelt that have already been serviced for development, characterizing them as “Whitelands” that have been trapped in the Greenbelt. In a statement to The Globe on Thursday, Ms. Crombie said if elected as leader of the party she will always support and defend the Greenbelt.

“Unlike the Ford government, I will not sell off parts of the Greenbelt to developer friends in secret and without the proper consultation involving municipalities, stakeholders, environmental and scientific evidence,” she said.

She said when she mentioned she was supportive of land swaps on service lands, she was talking “on a much smaller scale” than what the Ford government is doing, noting previous governments made changes to the Greenbelt when the evidence showed “it made sense and was warranted.”

Tim Gray, executive director of the advocacy group Environmental Defence, said Ms. Crombie’s comments about potential land swaps exhibited a “shocking misunderstanding” of why the Greenbelt was established and how the lands were selected.

“It sounds a lot like Doug Ford’s justification for opening the Greenbelt,” Mr. Gray said. “The Greenbelt was established specifically to stop speculation and development on the lands that it included. So, they weren’t included by mistake.”

Ms. Crombie’s comments also drew ire from her three fellow leadership contenders – as well as praise from Mr. Ford, who claimed Ms. Crombie “has endorsed our plan.”

The Progressive Conservatives, under Mr. Ford’s leadership, broke repeated promises and are allowing development on 3,000 hectares of the protected 800,000-hectare Greenbelt, which is made up of farmland and countryside that arcs around Toronto. The government says it is doing so in order to build more houses, and is adding more land back into the Greenbelt elsewhere.

“That’s good that she’s endorsing our Greenbelt plan to build more homes,” Mr. Ford said at an unrelated announcement in Whitby, Ont., on Thursday.

The three other official leadership contenders took aim at Ms. Crombie on Thursday, pledging to protect the Greenbelt in its entirety if they become premier.

Toronto Liberal MP Nate Erskine-Smith said it was his party that created the Greenbelt, and he will work to protect it.

“When Doug Ford is opening up the Greenbelt with behind-closed-doors conversations after promising to protect it, why, in launching her campaign, is she opening a conversation about ways in building on the Greenbelt?” Mr. Erskine-Smith said in an interview.

“Does she really want to lead the Ontario Liberal Party?”

Liberal MP Yasir Naqvi, a former provincial cabinet minister, said he’s proud to have been part of the Liberal government that created the Greenbelt, “and the Liberal government led by me will protect every inch of it.”

Ted Hsu, a provincial member of Parliament, said in order to protect the Greenbelt, he doesn’t support land swaps. “If you’re trying to permanently preserve the Greenbelt for all future generations, you can’t make these concessions,” he said.

Saleem Malik, president of the Mississauga Centre Provincial Liberal Association, however, told The Globe that all Liberals, including Ms. Crombie, are proud of the Ontario Liberal Party’s protection of the environment in the Greenbelt: “She clearly stated that the Greenbelt is sacred. Her leadership announcement speech and record shows that she is committed to protecting the environment and consulting with communities.”