New homes are built in a housing development in the west-end of Ottawa on May 6, 2021.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Doug Ford did not solve the housing crisis.
The Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader made big promises during his past term as premier. He said he would massively increase the housing supply, simplify the planning system and even deliver thousands of bargain-priced starter homes for young families.
None of those things came to pass. This week, as Ontarians choose a new government, what can we learn from Mr. Ford’s shotgun promises and the absence of meaningful results?
First of all, that you need a clear plan to solve this crisis. Addressing it involves decisions on two axes: private versus public, and infill versus sprawl. Mr. Ford’s party has been lost in the fog.
On the first question, the PCs claim a desire to build some public housing, but their platform says otherwise. It includes a laughable $75-million to house people coming off the streets. That is orders of magnitude too small.
They intend to allow the market to build housing by cutting “red tape” and pushing down development charges. Those points are reasonable, in theory. Ontario truly does have a problem with taxing and overregulating new housing. Bonnie Crombie’s Liberals now agree, and they likewise promise to attack development charges; so do the Ontario Greens.
But the details matter greatly: Which “red tape” exactly needs to be cut? This leads to the second choice: Should it be easier to build within urban boundaries, or easier to build on greenfields? Or both?
Here, the PCs are confused. At times, they signalled a desire to build more inside existing cities and pushed municipalities to loosen planning rules.
Yet they also favoured sprawl, particularly in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area. They attacked (and renamed) the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, the province’s widely respected plan to put a limit on suburban growth. They allowed municipalities more freedom to allow low-density house building and attack wetlands. Mr. Ford’s party broke an explicit promise not to touch the Greenbelt, and their communications with developers prompted an RCMP investigation that’s still continuing.
His government could have followed the advice of its own housing affordability task force: put much more housing in cities. That credible group suggested legalizing apartment buildings in much broader areas; simplifying urban design and heritage rules; and changing the building code to allow single-stair apartment buildings. These are in-the-weeds matters that can make an enormous difference. Together, they would allow the province to put many of its new residents within existing cities.
That’s exactly what should happen, as Mr. Ford’s opponents increasingly seem to understand. The Green Party platform suggests eliminating development charges, but only for small infill homes. Good. There’s ample evidence that building in a compact manner is cheaper and more efficient. Denser cities, with fewer highways and more busways, are the future.
The route to that future runs through the biggest cities. These places that already have jobs, transit and amenities are where new homes should be going. In 2019, Mr. Ford’s government introduced a “Major Transit Station Area” policy that aimed to push such sensible change.
Toronto City Hall responded with new plans that were deeply obstructionist, changing as little as possible. Much of central Toronto, which is the most walkable and job-rich place in the province, remains locked down. The province considered overruling Toronto to deliver “a firehose” of new density, as The Trillium reported. Then they didn’t. Faced with the chance to cut some actual, honest-to-God red tape, Mr. Ford’s people backed off.
Should they be re-elected, the PCs have a chance to reverse course – to leave the Greenbelt alone and open up the doors to the cities. Unlike the other parties, the PCs have a unique power here to impose necessary change without losing many votes. Does Mr. Ford understand this? Does he have the guts? His record says no. But we may soon find out.