Building on the Greenbelt won't solve housing woes

Plus, the deadly Maui wildfire and Canada's new climate policy [The Star] First Up [By Manuela Vega] By Manuela Vega Good morning. Here’s the latest on the damning Greenbelt report, a deadly wildfire in Maui and Ottawa’s new climate policy. DON’T MISS Steve Russell/The Star ontario politics [Ontario doesn’t need to develop the Greenbelt to ease the housing crisis, experts say]( Not only is it unnecessary to build housing on formerly protected environmental land — doing so would actually come with a number of problems around infrastructure and services, provincial auditor general Bonnie Lysyk concluded in her bombshell report released Wednesday. Many planning and development experts agree, Victoria Gibson and May Warren report, saying it’s not land availability that’s blocking home construction, but other factors. [Here’s what experts say can be done instead to address the housing crisis](. - Wait, what? “We don’t have a land shortage,” one expert told the Star. “We have challenges with approvals, we have a development climate that’s becoming increasingly challenging with inflation and with rising interest rates, and then we have skilled worker shortages.” - Word from Queen’s Park: [Doug Ford is fighting back against the Greenbelt report with an ad campaign](. - Word from the web: [The internet is baffled by Ford's Jiffy Lube comments during the Greenbelt press conference](. - The Star’s take: The province’s gerrymandering of the Greenbelt is worse than we thought. [Heads should roll](. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images climate crisis [Destruction and death amid a wildfire in Maui]( As emergency crews continue to prioritize search and rescues on the Hawaiian island of Maui, rapidly spreading wildfire has already claimed 53 lives, Irem Koca and Omar Mosleh report. Homes and shops have been burnt out and communities have been destroyed, with more than 1,000 structures obliterated, according to officials. Aerial footage showed swaths of the historic town of Lahaina as mere grey ash while rubble piled up next to the waterfront. [Here’s how two longtime residents described their experience — and concerns for their community](. - Rescue efforts: Air Canada sent an empty plane Friday night to evacuate stranded Canadians with plans to send another. “The Dreamliner flight flew down empty, what we call a ferry flight, and it is coming back full of passengers,” said an Air Canada spokesperson. - In photos: [Take a look at one of the deadliest wildfires in recent U.S. history](. Canadian Press/Arlyn McAdorey climate crisis [Canada will allow natural gas-powered plants to stay open beyond 2035]( Canada promised to stop new greenhouse gas emissions from its electricity sector by 2035. But the federal government’s new proposed rule to remove emissions from power grids will allow natural gas-powered plants to stay open — and continue emitting planet warming pollution — beyond that year, Alex Ballingall and Rob Ferguson report. While three premiers have spoken out against the regulation as being too stringent, some environmentalists say it doesn’t go far enough. [Here’s what you need to know](. - Word from Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault: Ottawa could have proposed stronger rules to reduce emissions even more, but the government didn’t want to force power plants to shut down or to drive up electricity bills, he said. - Word from Alberta: Premier Danielle Smith slammed Ottawa’s new regulation as “unconstitutional” [saying “they will not be implemented in our province.”]( WHAT ELSE [Here are five takeaways about the councillors Olivia Chow appointed]( and the key roles they will serve in her administration. This is what the revoked college admissions of 500 international students [reveals about Ontario’s public-private partnerships](. The Eglinton Crosstown LRT’s opening date will be announced by the end of summer. [Here’s what we know so far](. TTC riders can finally pay their fare by tapping a debit or credit card starting Tuesday. [Here’s what you need to know](. A man has died after being pushed at a subway station. [Here’s what the police say](. Leisure travel by Canadians is back to pre-pandemic levels — [but not business trips](. City of Vaughan is responding to a spike in car thefts by [handing out thousands of free signal-blocking tools](. The reported death of social media star Lil Tay is a mystery. [Here’s what Vancouver police and others are saying](. As Manifesto celebrates exclusively Canadian artists this year, [meet four young Torontonians who are set to perform](. Taste of the Danforth is finally back this weekend with new food and old faves. [This is what to look out for](. POV Toronto Star File Photo [There are 11 federal housing funding announcements slated for August and not one is for Toronto — who’s to blame?]( CLOSE-UP Karolina Sobel/Sea-Watch via AP MEDITERRANEAN SEA: In this photo provided by Sea-Watch on Tuesday, four migrant survivors wave for help as they are in distress at sea. [As Italy investigates the disaster that left 41 feared dead, four survivors are telling their harrowing story](. Thank you for reading. You can reach me and the First Up team at [firstup@thestar.ca](mailto:firstup@thestar.ca?source=newsletter&utm_source=ts_nl&utm_medium=emailutm_email=6C53B63A8E3FAD70AD4EF13004527437&utm_campaign=frst_194625). I’ll see you back here Monday. If you're not enjoying these emails, please tell us how we can make them better by emailing newsletterfeedback@thestar.ca. Or, if you'd prefer, you can unsubscribe from this newsletter by clicking the first link below. 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