Ontario Premier Doug Ford has called a snap election, with voters heading to the polls in late February. After two terms of his Progressive Conservative government, The Narwhal takes stock of the environmental impact.
As Ontario heads into a snap election called for late February, Premier Doug Ford’s environmental track record bears scrutiny, from Highway 413 and the Greenbelt to natural gas and electrification.
Luckily, we’ve been keeping tabs (and notes) since his second-term win in 2022 — and before that, if you want to peruse Ford’s impacts on green spaces, species at risk of extinction and energy policy during his first term.
Over the last two-and-a-half years, Ford’s Progressive Conservatives have opened up the protected Greenbelt to development, only to reverse course after public outcry. (That was followed, ahem, by a few resignations and investigations.) They’ve also rewritten the rules for conservation authorities, the organizations tasked with protecting watersheds across densely populated parts of the province.
We’re investigating Ontario’s environmental cuts
The Narwhal’s Ontario bureau is telling stories you won’t find anywhere else. Keep up with the latest scoops by signing up for a weekly dose of our independent journalism.
We’re investigating Ontario’s environmental cuts
The Narwhal’s Ontario bureau is telling stories you won’t find anywhere else. Keep up with the latest scoops by signing up for a weekly dose of our independent journalism.
Ontario’s plan for York Region’s sewage threatens the health of the Great Lakes, possibly violating an international agreement
York Region desperately needs increased sewage capacity as it prepares for its population to nearly double by 2051. The Progressive Conservatives’ plan is to pipe it to Durham instead, and then release the treated water into Lake Ontario. Illustration: Shawn Parkinson / The Narwhal
Preserve in Pickering, east of Toronto, was one of the areas the Doug Ford government removed from the protected Greenbelt, with a developer proposing to build 30,000 homes here. That move has since been reversed. Photo: Christopher Katsarov Luna / The Narwhal
The Ford government is ending a prohibition on sequestering carbon underground
After coming into power in 2018, the Doug Ford government scrapped existing electric vehicle buyer incentives, by calling it a credit for “millionaires,” and ripped out charging stations. The Ford government has since learned to love electric vehicles, and the economic benefits that come with them. Illustration: Carol Linnitt / The Narwhal
A Lake Superior woodland caribou crosses a narrow straight of water in Slate Islands Provincial Park. The herd is one of many threatened across on Ontario, where the provincial government is facing federal backlash if it doesn’t create more robust protection plans. Photo: Christopher Katsarov Luna / The Narwhal
Ontario imposed a pollution price on industries after losing a court battle with the federal government
—With files from Jacqueline Ronson
Another year of keeping a close watch
Here at The Narwhal, we don’t use profit, awards or pageviews to measure success. The thing that matters most is real-world impact — evidence that our reporting influenced citizens to hold power to account and pushed policymakers to do better.
And in 2024, our stories were raised in parliaments across the country and cited by citizens in their petitions and letters to politicians.
In Alberta, our reporting revealed Premier Danielle Smith made false statements about the controversial renewables pause. In Manitoba, we proved that officials failed to formally inspect a leaky pipeline for years. And our investigations on a leaked recording of TC Energy executives were called “the most important Canadian political story of the year.”
Here at The Narwhal, we don’t use profit, awards or pageviews to measure success. The thing that matters most is real-world impact — evidence that our reporting influenced citizens to hold power to account and pushed policymakers to do better.
And in 2024, our stories were raised in parliaments across the country and cited by citizens in their petitions and letters to politicians.
In Alberta, our reporting revealed Premier Danielle Smith made false statements about the controversial renewables pause. In Manitoba, we proved that officials failed to formally inspect a leaky pipeline for years. And our investigations on a leaked recording of TC Energy executives were called “the most important Canadian political story of the year.”
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