Ontario Premier Doug Ford has a track record of taking from the public to give to private interests. No where is this more evident than his government’s approach to environmental conservation.

Time and again, Doug Ford has removed public land to give to private developers, all in the name of supposedly strengthening the provincial economy and building houses. In recent years, parks and other greenspaces have been sold off for the creation of spas, highways, and some housing all while destroying valuable habitats and ecosystems.

Today on rabble radio, I speak with Tim Gray, the Executive Director of Environmental Defence about the recent announcement that 60 per cent of the provincially owned Wasaga Beach will be handed over to private developers.

About our guests 

Tim Gray is the Executive Director of Environmental Defence, a leading environmental advocacy organization in Canada. He is responsible for leading the organization’s initiatives to safeguard Canada’s freshwater, build livable cities, get toxic chemicals out of the products we use, clean up plastic pollution and transition Canada from fossil fuels to modern, clean energy. 

 

Tim was a founding Board member of Global Forest Watch Canada and Wildlife Conservation Society Canada, and in addition to leading Environmental Defence, he is also the Board of Directors of Evidence for Democracy. In 2025, Tim was a recipient of a King Charles III’s Coronation Medal for his environmental work.

 

Tim obtained an H.BSc.  in Biology from Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario in 1987 and a M.Sc. in Botany/Environmental Studies from the University of Toronto in 1992.

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