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. 

The Conservatives have made it easier to build highways and natural gas pipelines alike. But they’ve also started to get serious about electric vehicles. After cancelling hundreds of projects back in 2018, they’re even talking about renewable energy again — but tying those ambitions to a critical mineral rush.

Here’s a not-fully comprehensive list — we mostly blame them for that, see #1 — of the Progressive Conservatives’ big environmental moves. 

1. Doug Ford is still changing Ontario environmental policies without meaningfully consulting or notifying the public
2. Doug Ford is looking to rip out downtown Toronto bike lanes
3. Ontario cut into the protected Greenbelt at the request of developers — then reversed course

1. Ontario made it easier to build on wetlands
2. Ontario gutted conservation authorities to speed up development
3. Doug Ford forced Ontario municipalities to open farmland to development — then flip-flopped

1. Ontario’s plan for York Region’s sewage threatens the health of the Great Lakes, possibly violating an international agreement

1. Ontario is bringing back solar and wind power — while also conferring with Enbridge Gas to keep natural gas as a staple of the power grid
2. Ontario is building two highways through the Greenbelt, and changing laws to do it faster

1. The Ontario government is making it easier to open mines — and First Nations don’t like it

1. Ontario is moving to speed up environmental assessments — again The Duffins Rouge Agricultural

1. The Ford government is ending a prohibition on sequestering carbon underground

1. Ontario begins manifesting its electric vehicle battery bonanza — with more to come
2. Ontario launched a plan and funding for emergencies, including natural disasters
3. Ontario has opened a new provincial park and conservation area — and promised new Muskoka campsites

1. Ontario has abandoned a cornerstone of its environment plan, the Carbon Trust
2. Ontario restored some — but not all — of the funding it cut from its Environment Ministry

1. Ontario is under fire for its approach to protecting woodland caribou
2. Ontario made more sweeping changes to convert land into suburbs

1. Ontario made its controversial land zoning orders even stronger — while reversing some previous orders
2. The Progressive Conservatives are redeveloping Ontario Place — without an environmental review of the spa they want to build there

1. Ontario scrapped plans to reform its lagging recycling system
2. Doug Ford has delayed stronger green building standards

1. The Ford government is proposing to exempt companies that transport hazardous waste from scrutiny
2. Doug Ford wants to ‘streamline’ stormwater management to help developers
3. Ontario imposed a pollution price on industries after losing a court battle with the federal government

—With files from Jacqueline Ronson

The Narwhal’s reporters are telling environment stories you won’t read about anywhere else. Stay in the loop by signing up for our free weekly dose of independent journalism.