you me gallery, 330 James Street North
Supercrawl 2023
The cornucopia, or horn of plenty, originates as a symbol of abundance and nourishment in Greek and Roman mythologies. The Ford government in Ontario has added a twist to the North American tradition of thanksgiving by handing out rewards to developers who donated to the PC party and candidates. For the rest of us, it feels like the horn has been inverted, turning into a downward spiral for the many who work and pay taxes, but can’t make ends meet.
A Fraser Institute report shows that in the year 2019 alone, the government of Ontario spent $11 billion on corporate welfare handouts. With the federal government’s support, Ontario taxpayers contributed $14 billion of cash to Volkswagen, and hundreds of millions of dollars to Fortune 500 automakers like the Ford Motor Company, Stellantis and Toyota to subsidize the manufacturing of electric car batteries in Ontario.
A few weeks before the Ontario government announced the Greenbelt removals, Book Shaver Developments Ltd. bought 411 Book Rd. for $2.8 million — or more than $234,000 an acre. (Torstar)
At least four properties on Book Road West, totalling about 125 acres, are now owned by companies linked to Jack Eisenberger of Fieldgate Homes and Silvio De Gasperis of Tacc Developments. (The Spectator)
With the Hamilton purchase, De Gasperis is set to benefit from four of the 15 sites removed from the Greenbelt, owning multiple properties in Pickering, Richmond Hill and Vaughan, as CBC Toronto has previously reported. Two of those sites are the largest of the 15. Eisenberger has also invested in the Richmond Hill and Vaughan developments, and has been buying up other properties on Book Road in recent years.
Leading up to the June 2022 provincial election, Eisenberger, De Gasperis and their family members donated tens of thousands of dollars to the Progressive Conservative Party and candidates, according to donor reports published with Elections Ontario.
The list of developers who own lands that Ford has ordered to be removed from the Greenbelt, include numbered and foreign-owned companies:
TACC Developments, Silvio De Gasperis – linked to Book Shaver Developments Ltd – linked to Paradise Development, Steven Weisz, Jack Eisenberger, Fieldgate Homes
Rice Group, Michael Rice – linked to Green Lane Bathurst GP
Torca II Inc with numbered company linked to Orca Equiy), Marcelo Perez, Bernardino Quinto, Robert Jacobs
2615898 Ontario Ltd, Michael Lam, Yuchen Lu
2502536 and Wyview Group, Minghui Zhao, Wixian Wang
502 Winston Road Inc, Jeff Paikin (New Horizon Development Group, Grimsby)
FLATO Upper Markham
Minotar Holdings Inc, Clay and Corey Leibel
ingrid mayrhofer 