The newly appointed Minister of Housing in Ontario, Paul Calandra, stated that he is working to launch the promised review of Greenbelt development, which could lead to the removal of more land from the area as part of the proposed "action plan" in the file.

During his remarks to reporters at Queen's Park on Wednesday, Calandra said, "I asked the Deputy Minister of Housing on Tuesday to conduct a 'comprehensive' review of the process through which the land to be removed from the protected area was selected," and added, "This review will begin very soon," emphasizing that he "looks forward" to this process.

The new minister confirmed that it is not clear what the review will entail, but it could potentially request the government to remove or add land.

This appearance marks Calandra's first as Minister of Housing following Steve Clark's resignation on Monday after two damning reports on the Greenbelt outlined a highly flawed process that favored certain developers and lacked transparency.

In conjunction with the review, Calandra stated that one of the regional facilitators is currently negotiating community benefits with local governments—a task he hopes will be completed by the end of the year, after which he committed to announcing the results to the public.

He said, "I provided the regional facilitator with a clear mandate regarding what I expect to happen with these expectations. And I said, 'The message is very, very clear: we are building communities. I expect significant community benefits from this land.' He expected that the natural heritage and natural heritage features present in this land should be protected."

If it turns out that developers have violated regulations or failed to meet their housing targets, Calandra stated that he intends to implement a "use it or lose it" policy.

He added, "I am working with my ministry and have instructed them, as they have said, to develop a 'use it or lose it' policy. We need to put the shovels in the ground and rely on our partners in the development industry to bury those shovels in the ground faster."

Additional measures that Calandra proposed today included options for speculation and cancellation penalties, and additional consumer protection, such as increasing penalties for canceling purchase agreements, increasing penalties for extorting purchase agreements, and a potential increase in the non-resident speculation tax from its current rate of 25 percent.

When asked whether the Ford government would stop issuing Minister's Zoning Orders (MZOs), which allow the government to bypass local government decisions regarding land use, pending the review, Calandra said it would not.