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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...
his name might sound familiar because the new cortellucci vaughan hospital at mackenzie health, the one doug ford has been touting lately as a covid-centric facility, is named after him and his family https://pressprogress.ca/ontario-hospital-renamed-in-honour-of-one-of-doug-fords-top-donors/
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'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/
cortellucci, who is a developer, also owns a large chunk of the greenbelt. doug ford's desire to develop the greenbelt has been well-documented https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/doug-ford-pc-greenbelt-open-developers-mike-schreiner-1.4641575
and late last year he rolled back the mandate of conservation authorities there, prompting the resignations of several members of the greenbelt advisory group https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2020/12/07/doug-ford-government-defends-conservation-authority-changes-in-wake-of-mass-greenbelt-council-resignations.html
there he is again! https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-doug-ford-government-mzos-developers-zoning-orders-1.5832817
back to mario cortellucci's italian senate run -- he ran under berlusconi'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/
vaughan mayor maurizio bevilacqua faced an integrity complaint after endorsing cortellucci's run. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/vaughan-integrity-complaint-1.4548635
while there's nothing illegal about cortellucci'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'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 'philanthropy'
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
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't happen in a vacuum. @fordnation isn'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'm very tired now.
and before you say "but politicians accept donations all the time" - don't forget that the fords have tried to keep this a SECRET since back in the robbie days!
and if you'd like to start on @Sflecce's ties to vaughan developers... here you go https://pressprogress.ca/group-that-ran-anti-teacher-attack-ads-featuring-fake-mom-violated-ontario-elections-act/
anyway now you know who @fordnation is actually referring to when he says "my friends"
another seemingly nonsensical ford decision also starts to make sense... ford wanting to restart the stalled GTAW aka hwy 413 that would run beside the nearly empty 407 https://www.thestar.com/business/2020/12/19/doug-ford-plans-to-start-building-a-new-superhighway-near-the-401-next-year-why-arent-we-moving-traffic-to-the-vastly-underused-407-instead.html
it'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's the president of zancor homes? whaddaya know... it's mario's nephew, fabrizio cortellucci! https://www.zancorhomes.com/communities/
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's just interesting to look at, all at once, i think.
from today's @torontostar -- arguments against the proposed hwy... and those in favour -- including caledon mayor allen thompson... https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2021/01/27/this-is-a-stupid-place-to-put-the-highway-doug-fords-government-has-fast-tracked-a-new-gta-freeway-during-covid-19-sparking-local-opposition.html?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=SocialMedia&utm_campaign=GTA&utm_content=stupidplanfordhighway&utm_source=twitter&source=torontostar&utm_medium=SocialMedia&utm_campaign=&utm_campaign_id=&utm_content=
who happens to know a certain someone! meet mario's brother, and "one particular land holder" nick (aka nicola) cortellucci! http://caledoncitizen.com/?p=33235
good morning! it's saturday and i'm learning about the bradford bypass - another one of @fordnation's pet projects that he'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
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
there are real concerns that the ford government's plan is not taking the environmental impact into account. from the previous CBC article...
and from the ontario government's own website about the bradford bypass https://www.ontario.ca/page/highway-400-highway-404-extension-link-bradford-bypass
here's a map of where the proposed bypass would go
the map is pretty small, so let'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
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
but alas... they went unheeded. https://www.innisfiltoday.ca/local-news/town-of-innisfil-approves-mzo-request-for-the-orbit-2853486
that request has not yet been approved. but @fordnation's government has been handing out MZO's at an unprecedented rate. here's a handy resource to learn more on that, and see what they've been up to. https://yourstoprotect.ca/ministers-zoning-order-map/
back to the 'orbit' -- the CITY OF THE FUTURE!
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's sleeping lion development... https://www.barrietoday.com/local-news/numerous-concerns-launched-at-innisfil-council-over-futuristic-orbit-project-2570759
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's sleeping lion development... https://www.barrietoday.com/local-news/numerous-concerns-launched-at-innisfil-council-over-futuristic-orbit-project-2570759
cortel's sleeping lion development -- was promised to be a "low impact development" with engineered "raingardens" and touted as a "walkable" community with commercial amenities in a plaza in the middle... but then.... https://www.simcoe.com/news-story/5952016-innisfil-councillors-not-impressed-with-request-to-move-sleeping-lion-plaza/
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's the kind of money these developers have.
and, back to my original point - these developers? they'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
would you like to know more about the riviera? here you go. https://www.yongestreetmedia.ca/features/expocity12142011.aspx
surely a coincidence. https://pagesix.com/2014/03/21/rob-ford-has-friends-in-high-places/
GREAT work here by @EmmaMci -- give it a read!! pass it around!!! https://www.nationalobserver.com/2021/02/16/investigations/ford-government-mzo-fast-tracked-developments-by-donors
who can it BEEE now https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-dominion-foundries-agreement-purchase-sale-1.5921462
so glad to see this investigation in the @TorontoStar! there's so much more here. https://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/2021/04/03/ford-friends-with-benefits-an-inside-look-at-the-money-power-and-influence-behind-the-push-to-build-highway-413.html
