Ontario: The mayor of Mississauga and other municipal leaders, who have raised their voice against the new housing law, have been asked by Ontario Premier Doug Ford to “get on board” and “stop whining.”
During an announcement in Brampton, Ford took a aim at Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie for opposing his housing plan, saying he did not understand what these complaints were being made for. We have a very ambitious goal.
Ford said he wanted to use Mississauga as his example. 120,000 homes are being built in Mississauga over the next ten years and this would be 12,000 houses more than the average target of 2,100 per annum.
Bonnie Crombie and several other mayors have been complaining that Ontario’s new law would require municipalities to raise property taxes to recover infrastructure costs.
Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark said he would conduct a third-party audit of select municipalities and try to find out if the law was indeed causing a problem.
Ford said Mississauga already has several million dollars in reserve for development. He said that instead of criticizing, Cromby and other mayors should join him.
Meanwhile, there was no response from Crombie’s office on this, while his spokesman said she would respond later.