This Pickering community is wondering what the province is smoking

Plus, B.C.'s decriminalization experiment and the sad state of the housing market  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

First Up   By Manuela Vega   Good morning. Here’s the latest on Greenbelt development, drug decriminalization and today’s housing market.       DON’T MISS Lance McMillan/The Star   provincial politics Durham was already struggling to support growth — then the province opened up the Greenbelt Pickering’s community of Seaton was meant to be a “walkable, transit-supportive” area that would eventually accommodate up to 70,000 new residents. But almost a decade after the project was approved, critics say it’s become an underpopulated piece of suburban sprawl. As Durham Region works to finish developing it — a process expected to take decades — the Ontario government is pushing even more development on the region by opening up the Greenbelt for housing and giving a tight timeline for construction, Noor Javed reports. Here’s why a former mayor says the plans are “just not reality.” Context: Last fall, the province backtracked on a pledge not to touch the Greenbelt, opening 15 areas of the protected land for development. The largest chunk was in Pickering and included the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve (DRAP). As part of its timeline for housing, construction must begin by 2025. More: “We don’t have capacity of water or sewage for what we want to build now,” Pickering and Durham Region Coun. Maurice Brenner said. Go deeper: “If the Ford government has mandated that the DRAP be developed for 50,000 homes, does that mean that the region is provincially mandated to give unplanned, unserviced, un-scoped land priority over all the ones they have already done work on?” said former Ajax mayor Steve Parish.   Canadian Press/Graeme Roy   drug policy B.C.’s drug decriminalization experiment starts today and other jurisdictions are watching For the next three years, British Columbia will allow drug users 18 and over to carry up to 2.5 grams of opioids, cocaine, methamphetamine and MDMA. The “monumental shift” in drug policy is meant to foster trust, reduce stigma and help more people access life-saving services, says Carolyn Bennett, the federal minister of mental health and addictions. While the province rolls out the plan, Toronto is working with Health Canada on a proposal of its own, Joanna Chiu, Jeremy Nuttall and David Rider report. Here’s what we know about the plan and how implementation could differ among jurisdictions. By the numbers: About 14,000 people have died of overdoses since B.C. declared a public health emergency in 2016, according to the latest data from the B.C. Coroners Service, with most of the deaths occurring in private residences. Illicit fentanyl was involved in 87 per cent of deaths in 2021. More: Toronto Public Health says it continues working with Health Canada on a revised version of its initial decriminalization proposal. “My opinion is that the decision on Toronto is going to be based on whether what happens in B.C. appears, politically, to make sense,” said the director at the Toronto-based Centre on Drug Policy Evaluation.   Canadian Press/Richard Buchan   real estate How the housing market went from euphoric high, to major burden By February 2022, mortgage rates had dropped to a historic low as home values soared. At the time, the red-hot housing market seemed like a safe investment, but one year and eight interest rate hikes later, many households are under financial siege, Tess Kalinowski reports. Not only has homeownership become more unaffordable, insolvencies are up, real estate values are down and rent prices have skyrocketed. Take a look at the factors that have brought us here. By the numbers: Some real estate markets in Southern Ontario are already crashing — with price drops of more than 30 per cent. Go deeper: Someone who bought a $1 million home in January 2022 with 20 per cent down and a five-year variable rate of 1.4 per cent would have expected a monthly payment of $3,222, according to Ratehub.ca. With the Bank of Canada’s increases, that payment has since grown to $5,049 a month. More: Here’s why rising home prices have equipped Canadians for a housing downturn, according to RE/MAX.       WHAT ELSE   Encampment clearings would violate Charter rights, an Ontario court has ruled. Here’s what we know about the “precedent-setting decision.”    Green Leader Mike Schreiner now says he needs “time” to think about joining the Liberals, while some Liberals call the plan “an insult.” David Onley wanted everyone to see the world through the eyes of those with disabilities.   Justin Trudeau is defending his point person on Islamophobia amid calls for her resignation. TTC stations with fewer employees look like ghost towns. Is it any wonder transit violence increases?   Will a recession hinder anti-racism progress at work? A survey found Black employees are worried. A Toronto Catholic trustee is fighting back after a court ruling and an order to pay the school board $140,000 in costs.   L’Arche founder Jean Vanier sexually abused at least 25 women, according to an independent report. Did a towel play a role in this immigration detainees death? A jury must decide.   Bobby Hull was a great hockey player and a miserable human being. There’s a decrepit supertanker off the coast of Yemen — it’s another Exxon Valdez disaster just waiting to happen.   What’s so exciting about Throwdown Collective’s revolving stage? It depends how you look at it.       POV Augustin Paullier/AFP via Getty Images Tyre Nichols’ brutal death — and these insidious talking points — show where we’re really at, years on from George Floyd.       CLOSE-UP Canadian Press/NCC/Ho-Sean Feagan   ALBERTA: A herd of elk are seen on a property in the Waterton Park Front on Monday. The land, which includes fescue grasslands, forests and wetlands, has been purchased by the Nature Conservancy of Canada. Here’s what else we know about the newest conservation site and the “victory for nature.”     Thank you for reading. You can reach me and the First Up team at firstup@thestar.ca. I’ll see you back here tomorrow.     If you're not enjoying these emails, please tell us how we can make them better by emailing newsletterfeedback@thestar.ca. 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