Hot housing bill lands today
Plus: Fallis fallout, staff moves, budget speculation, Grit shade, moving beyond Covid
ABOVE THE FOLD
Hotly-anticipated legislation to deal with sky-high home prices hits the Clerk’s table today.
Sources confirmed to Queen’s Park Observer that Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister STEVE CLARK will introduce the bill with an eye to speeding up the municipal planning approvals process — something Premier DOUG FORD has previously said slows down construction and drives up costs.
Mayors will be keeping a close eye on the fine-print — expected to be the opening salvo in a broader package to tackle housing affordability — as they have previously warned against handing over more policy control to the province. Those concerns cropped up after Ontario’s Housing Affordability Task Force released a smorgasbord of recommendations, including for “binding provincial action” to drastically increase density in residential neighbourhoods.
A hint: Prefacing today’s bill was another move to rein in home prices — the PCs are increasing the tax on non-resident homebuyers to 20…