Michael Higgins: Doug Ford’s Greenbelt apology a lesson for the never-sorry Trudeau

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Maybe the Ontario premier will start a trend

Published Sep 21, 2023  •  Last updated 3 hours ago  •  4 minute read

Ontario Premier Doug Ford announces that he will be reversing his government’s decision to open the Greenbelt to developers during a press conference in Niagara Falls, Ont., Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Tara Walton Article content

Sorry really is the hardest word, so good for Ontario Premier Doug Ford for having the courage to say it.

Most politicians try to ride out scandals in the hope they are quickly forgotten, get overtaken by other events or, if all else fails, call an inquiry. The last option tends to cover most sins and most questions. The politician can say he has done something but also knows he will be picking up a golden pension by the time the inquiry comes to a conclusion.

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By publicly saying sorry, Ford has chosen the humiliating option, but one for which he should be applauded. It’s pretty easy to think of politicians who have screwed up, it’s harder to think of ones that have sincerely apologised, and it’s sincerity that counts.

Ford’s apology follows an escalating scandal into a plan to take 7,400 acres of land out of the Greenbelt and build 50,000 homes, a plan that the premier cancelled in its entirety on Thursday.

As Randall Denley pointed out in these pages, the Ontario government’s plan only involved developing 0.3 per cent of the two-million-acre Greenbelt. But any plan to build on the Greenbelt was bound to be met with a storm of criticism.

In August, Ontario Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk released her “Special Report on Changes to the Greenbelt” that found the government’s plan had been put together hastily by Housing Minister Steve Clark’s chief of staff.

The plan to “open parts of the Greenbelt for development failed to consider environmental, agricultural and financial risks and impacts, proceeded with little input from experts or affected parties, and favoured certain developers/landowners,” said Lysyk in her report.

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“While the people of Ontario deserve prompt action to solve societal problems like those generated by a need for housing, this does not mean that government and non-elected political staff should sideline or abandon protocols and processes that are important to guide objective and transparent decision-making based on sufficient and accurate information,” she added.

But the report did not point the finger at Ford or Clark.

Responding to the report, Ford said the processes should have been better but the government was trying to move quickly to solve a housing crisis. Asked whether anyone had benefitted personally from the plan, the premier said, “Absolutely not.”

However, another report from Ontario Integrity Commissioner J. David Wake did criticise Clark and recommended he be reprimanded for not properly overseeing his chief of staff, Ryan Amato.

Clark resigned in early September. Amato has also resigned.

And this week, Kaleed Rasheed, minister of public and business service delivery, resigned after news reports that raised questions about a trip to Las Vegas where he met one of the developers who benefitted from the Greenbelt plan.

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Rasheed said he would be taking steps to “clear my name with the Integrity Commissioner.”

Jae Truesdell, who served as Ford’s director of housing policy, has also resigned, Ford said.

Meanwhile, the RCMP is looking into the plan to see if it should launch an investigation.

A plan to solve the housing crisis was now looking about as attractive as nuclear waste.

On Thursday, during a caucus retreat in Niagara Falls, Ont., Ford said members shared with him what they had been hearing from their communities. It obviously wasn’t good and prompted Ford’s mea culpa.

“I want the people of Ontario to know, I’m listening. I made a promise to you that I wouldn’t touch the Greenbelt. I broke that promise and for that, I’m very, very sorry,” Ford said in a press conference.

“It was a mistake to open the Greenbelt. It was a mistake to establish a process that moved too fast. This process, it left too much room for some people to benefit over others. It caused people to question our motives. As a first step to earn back your trust, I’ll be reversing the changes we made and won’t make any changes to the Greenbelt in the future.”

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Ford could have tried to ride out the scandal. Ontario desperately needs new housing and the plan would have fast-tracked the building of new homes. But his dramatic reversal and sincere apology shows that he has listened and is contrite. And that’s rare for a politician.

Four years ago, in Niagara-on-the-lake, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded with borderline disdain to an ethics report into the SNC-Lavalin scandal that found he improperly tried to influence Jody Wilson-Raybould, his attorney general.

“I take full responsibility,” said Trudeau. “The buck stops with the prime minister.” All good so far, but then he added, “I cannot apologize for standing up for Canadian jobs.” Indeed, no apology was ever given to Canadians or to his harassed former attorney general.

Trudeau has also mastered the art of the non-apology. When the ethics commissioner found he broke ethics rules when he holidayed at the Aga Khan’s private island, the prime minister said he was “sorry” that he didn’t take steps to clear the trip ahead of time.

“We respect and obviously accept the full report of the Commissioner,” said Trudeau. “Obviously there was a mistake.”

Which is not an apology at all.

Ford’s Greenbelt problems are far from over. But to hear a politician who has screwed up say sorry, and mean it, is refreshing, surprising and most welcome. Wouldn’t it be nice if it started a trend.

National Post

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