fascinated by this man, mario cortellucci, and his outsized influence on ontario and GTA politics. cortellucci, who lives in vaughan and ran as a far-right candidate for the italian senate back in 2018 - is a major ford donor...
but his name also pops up in a LOT of other ford projects. for instance - he controls the long term lease on big parts of toronto& #39;s portlands... where doug ford once proposed building an nfl stadium and monorail... https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/fords-sale-of-citys-waterfront-real-estate-begins/article578177/">https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toro...
back to mario cortellucci& #39;s italian senate run -- he ran under berlusconi& #39;s coalition that promoted anti-immigration and anti-lgbtq policies, as well as the closure of mosques. https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/richard-lorello/vaughan-bevilacqua-cortellucci-italian-election_a_23378366/">https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/richard-l...
while there& #39;s nothing illegal about cortellucci& #39;s senate run, or his donations - i think this stuff is important to know. ford and his donors rely on no one paying attention to these things so they can keep doing what they& #39;re doing.
but citizens should be aware of who is behind the decisions that affect them, to whom our politicians are beholden , and how having deep pockets means you can sway democracy in your favour - while hiding behind & #39;philanthropy& #39;
this is especially relevant now, as doug ford ignores pleas for paid sick days, which he cut at the beginning of his term. @goldsbie looked into that... https://twitter.com/goldsbie/status/1349099329433251840">https://twitter.com/goldsbie/...
and, while he protects the private long-term care home industry from the consequences of their actions during covid-19... for some reason.
i believe it is irresponsible to report on the actions of our leaders without giving context. stories don& #39;t happen in a vacuum. @fordnation isn& #39;t just sitting in a room making "the best decision" -- he has friends and family -- and favours to return.
and so far we know this is a guy who surrounds himself by far-righters, alt-righters and anti-vaxxers. food for thought. i& #39;m very tired now.
and before you say "but politicians accept donations all the time" - don& #39;t forget that the fords have tried to keep this a SECRET since back in the robbie days!
anyway now you know who @fordnation is actually referring to when he says "my friends"
it& #39;s a highway that would run from georgetown to vaughan... conveniently through/near lots of that land owned by his friends!
for instance - the new highway is slated to end riiight around that red squiggle. those pins are completed and planned zancor homes communities. who& #39;s the president of zancor homes? whaddaya know... it& #39;s mario& #39;s nephew, fabrizio cortellucci! https://www.zancorhomes.com/communities/ ">https://www.zancorhomes.com/communiti...
or this. the purple line is the proposed highway. the area around the red dot is also owned by zancor homes. they appear to be planning a development there. it also happens to partially be... on the greenbelt.
oh yeah, and there was that time, a few months after @fordnation took office, that the province sold off the hearn generating station (which happens to be on the waterfront) for the bargain-basement price of $16million... without telling anyone. guess who bought it?
of course - you cant "prove" causation. you cant "prove" anything is really going on here. it& #39;s just interesting to look at, all at once, i think.
who happens to know a certain someone! meet mario& #39;s brother, and "one particular land holder" nick (aka nicola) cortellucci! http://caledoncitizen.com/?p=33235 ">https://caledoncitizen.com/...
good morning! it& #39;s saturday and i& #39;m learning about the bradford bypass - another one of @fordnation& #39;s pet projects that he& #39;s pushing through while dismissing environtmental concerns https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ford-government-s-plan-for-building-new-highway-puts-holland-marsh-at-risk-critics-say-1.5903595?cmp=rss">https://www.cbc.ca/news/cana...
the holland marsh is farmland and wetland that is bordered by the oak ridges moraine, lake simcoe, stretches into bradford, and touches east gwillimbury and innisfil. https://www.barrietoday.com/local-news/concerns-around-proposed-holland-marsh-highway-growing-among-environmental-groups-3317738">https://www.barrietoday.com/local-new...
there are real concerns that the ford government& #39;s plan is not taking the environmental impact into account. from the previous CBC article...
and from the ontario government& #39;s own website about the bradford bypass https://www.ontario.ca/page/highway-400-highway-404-extension-link-bradford-bypass">https://www.ontario.ca/page/high...
here& #39;s a map of where the proposed bypass would go
the map is pretty small, so let& #39;s see where it would actually start and end etc
so i wondered... what could be going on in a relatively small (but yes, growing) town in, say, innisfil, that would necessitate a highway that would end up destroying a ton of wetlands and farmlands?
well hey! what about this? back in 2019 a new "smart city" was proposed for innisfil by -- guess who? the cortel group! run by our old pal, mario cortellucci! https://cortelgroup.com/news/innisfil-newest-development-the-orbit">https://cortelgroup.com/news/inni...
concerns about the "orbit" project were raised back in the summer https://www.barrietoday.com/local-news/numerous-concerns-launched-at-innisfil-council-over-futuristic-orbit-project-2570759">https://www.barrietoday.com/local-new...
but alas... they went unheeded. https://www.innisfiltoday.ca/local-news/town-of-innisfil-approves-mzo-request-for-the-orbit-2853486">https://www.innisfiltoday.ca/local-new...
that request has not yet been approved. but @fordnation& #39;s government has been handing out MZO& #39;s at an unprecedented rate. here& #39;s a handy resource to learn more on that, and see what they& #39;ve been up to. https://yourstoprotect.ca/ministers-zoning-order-map/">https://yourstoprotect.ca/ministers...
back to the & #39;orbit& #39; -- the CITY OF THE FUTURE!https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🏙️" title="Stadtbild" aria-label="Emoji: Stadtbild">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🚀" title="Rakete" aria-label="Emoji: Rakete">just look at this breathless description of the proposed development. comparing the go train track to the arno! so many promises! but also note: the mention of cortel group& #39;s sleeping lion development... https://www.barrietoday.com/local-news/numerous-concerns-launched-at-innisfil-council-over-futuristic-orbit-project-2570759">https://www.barrietoday.com/local-new...
back to the & #39;orbit& #39; -- the CITY OF THE FUTURE!https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable=https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🚀" title="Rakete" aria-label="Emoji: Rakete">just look at this breathless description of the proposed development. comparing the go train track to the arno! so many promises! but also note: the mention of cortel group& #39;s sleeping lion development... https://www.barrietoday.com/local-new..." title="back to the & #39;orbit& #39; -- the CITY OF THE FUTURE!https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🏙️" title="Stadtbild" aria-label="Emoji: Stadtbild">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🚀" title="Rakete" aria-label="Emoji: Rakete">just look at this breathless description of the proposed development. comparing the go train track to the arno! so many promises! but also note: the mention of cortel group& #39;s sleeping lion development... https://www.barrietoday.com/local-new..." class="img-responsive" style="max-width:100%;"/>
the thing is - if you have unlimited money you can make whatever promises you want, and then pay to break them later when it suits you. that& #39;s the kind of money these developers have.
and, back to my original point - these developers? they& #39;re longtime pals of a certain special family! back in 2014, rob and doug held a campaign fundraiser at a place called riviera parque banqet & convention centre https://www.cp24.com/news/doug-ford-defends-decision-to-hold-campaign-fundraiser-in-vaughan-1.1768396">https://www.cp24.com/news/doug...
would you like to know more about the riviera? here you go. https://www.yongestreetmedia.ca/features/expocity12142011.aspx">https://www.yongestreetmedia.ca/features/...
surely a coincidence. https://pagesix.com/2014/03/21/rob-ford-has-friends-in-high-places/">https://pagesix.com/2014/03/2...
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