As the province is under fire for controversies with opening up the Greenbelt and questions surround a facilitator determining the fate of an amalgamated region, Premier Doug Ford will be in town for his Ford Fest.
Ford Fest will be taking place on Sept. 8 from 5 to 9 p.m. at Bingemans, (425 Bingemans Centre Dr.) in Kitchener and everyone is welcome.
Cambridge MPP Brian Riddell sees this as an opportunity for the community to come and meet their elected officials, speak their mind and share opinions.
"So Ford Fest is basically the premier getting out and he's really not done this before, especially in Waterloo Region," said Riddell. "He's coming to the region and what he's going to be doing is getting out there meeting people and there will be free food, hotdogs, hamburgers and free amusement rides."
Ford Fest comes at an interesting time. A facilitator will be visiting the region a few days after the premier's event and questions around the Ontario government's policies and ethical decisions are in the spotlight.
There are currently several groups who are planning protests at the event and are calling on Ford to resign over his opening up of the Greenbelt and various other issues.
The Waterloo Regional Labour Council is joining the protest against Ford's PC government and asks its members to join them on Friday.
"Fed up with Ford and his cronies? Let’s let them know, loud and clear," wrote the labour council on social media.
The Ontario Autism Coalition will also be out protesting the Ontario PCs over what it calls a lack of funding and cuts to vital programs according to founder Tony Stravato.
Riddell welcomes the groups and recognizes that citizens have the right to peaceful protest. He mentions this is what the event is for, to speak your mind and have your voice heard.
The Cambridge MPP also spoke to the Greenbelt controversy that has the premier in hot water with Ontario’s auditor general as he removed 7,400 acres from the Greater Toronto Area Greenbelt.
"I think with the whole Greenbelt issue there's a lot of misunderstanding and what I feel has happened was a flawed process," added Riddell. "And through the housing ministry we could have done a lot better, but we have to look at the crux of it and the crux of it is we had 500,000 people come to Ontario last year."
He adds when the premier made the promise not to touch the Greenbelt, it was before the high influx that the "federal government was bringing into the country."
Through the findings of Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk it was determined that the Greenbelt did not need to be opened to satisfy housing demand and would ultimately not be needed to meet the housing target.
According to Lysyk, a chosen few developers were given direct access to ministerial staff and the decision to open up the land highly favoured these select developers.
The report stated in a timeline that in Nov. 2022, the provincial government opened up 7,400 acres of land to be removed from the Greenbelt and converted into housing developments.
Just weeks prior to the announcement, several developers bought land in the soon-to-be opened Greenbelt and stood to gain billions of dollars as it appreciated once opened.
Riddell adds the land being taken is one-third of one per cent of the total Greenbelt.
"It's not a bunch of wildlife areas or areas with wetlands. It's areas in the east of Toronto where we have houses on one side of the road and the other side's a farmer's field. Those are the areas that we're working on," he said.
Another big development that is coinciding with Ford's visit is the appointment of a facilitator to determine the fate of Cambridge and the rest of Waterloo Region.
Amalgamation is one of the biggest questions Riddell gets and he is on the fence about Cambridge joining the region as one city or staying status quo.
"To me, it's dollars and cents. If we separate will taxes go up? I think so, but I don't know. I'm a data and facts person so I would like to see the whole picture," he adds.
A number of regional councillors are pushing for the region to become one city and one single tier of government.
"We find that our two-tier model of governance is inefficient. To sort out roles staff at the region and area municipalities spend an inordinate amount of time talking to their colleagues trying to determine that eternal regional question - "Who does what?" wrote the regional councillors in a joint statement.
Cambridge councillor Nicholas Ermeta thinks the city could do better on it's own, while still sharing key items with the rest of the region such as: school board, police chief and transit while taking housing and other issues into city councils hands.
“While I respect the opinions of the region, as this could negatively affect their position, my commitment is first and foremost to the City of Cambridge and the community in which I represent," said Ermeta previously to CambridgeToday.
Riddell's main focus is Cambridge and advocating for the completion of the LRT, cleaning up the downtown and creating a space where families want to live and raise their children.
The Cambridge MPP is hoping to see members of the Cambridge community come to Ford Fest and speak with the premier and himself to express how they feel, good or bad.
"I believe people should have the right to go out and meet the premier, meet their elected officials, talk with them, speak with them and give their opinion," added Riddell. "I believe you should be able to have a conversation with somebody and both walk away satisfied."
