I wonder when Southlake’s Delphic Chief Executive, Arden Krystal, is going to make a public statement about the former Greenbelt lands in King which are earmarked for a new acute hospital. This is a very big deal. Personally, I’d like to know how it all came about. 

For the moment we’ve got to parse emails to discern their real meaning. It would be a lot easier for everyone if we just had a simple narrative from Southlake explaining what happened when and why.

Last week York Region’s Chief Administrative Officer, Bruce Macgregor, told us our 15,000 new neighbours will occupy lands

“identified by the Province to also contain a hospital expansion up here in the Newmarket area – expansion of Southlake hospital.” 

Breathless

As the whole world now knows, Arden Krystal met developer Michael Rice and King Mayor Steve Pellegrini at King Municipal Centre on Tuesday 1 November 2022 when Rice offered for a nominal fee some of the Greenbelt land he had bought in King a few months earlier for a new hospital site.  On Friday 4 November 2022 Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister, Steve Clark, announced that certain lands were to be removed from the Greenbelt, including those in King, opening them up for development. On Monday 7 November 2022 Pellegrini moved a motion at King’s Committee of the Whole supporting a new hospital on the Rice lands, breathlessly congratulating everyone involved.

Pellegrini, who didn’t want to get anything wrong, sent an email to Arden Krystal at 12:09 pm on 7 November 2022 attaching a draft of the motion he proposed to put before King Councillors that evening:

“Call if you have any questions, thanks Steve”

Krystal got back to Pellegrini at 2:24 pm the same day attaching an amended version of his proposed motion:  

“Hey Steve. Thanks so much for your support – this is truly exciting! I wondered if you would be agreeable to a few small edits to the motion that I think will have the same impact but perhaps be less controversial. Please let me know if these would be acceptable. Cheers and thanks again.”

Steve replies to Arden at 3:48 pm:

“All good. Will make those changes”

And, one nano second later, Arden replies:

“Awesome. Many thanks!!”

She copies her email to Township Clerk Denny Timm and Chief Administrative Officer Daniel Kostopoulos.

Nuanced

So what were the changes? Most of Pellegrini’s motion escaped Krystal’s blue pencil but there were a few changes which are nuanced.

Pellegrini version:

AND WHEREAS the lands satisfy the locational criteria for the new Southlake regional Health Centre

Arden Krystal’s amended version:

AND WHEREAS the lands satisfy our understanding of the locational criteria for the new Southlake Regional Health Centre site

Pellegrini version:

AND WHEREAS the landowner has made a commitment to provide the necessary lands for the Southlake Regional Health Centre for a nominal fee

Arden Krystal’s amended version:

AND WHEREAS the landowner is committed to providing the necessary lands for the Southlake Regional Health Centre site for a nominal fee

Pellegrini version:

AND WHEREAS the area designated as “Settlement Area” is not required to accommodate the new Southlake Regional Health Centre

Arden Krystal’s amended version:

AND WHEREAS based on our understanding of the locational criteria for the new hospital the area designated as “Settlement Area” is not required.

It is my understanding that Rice had been in discussion with Southlake on their plans for a new hospital since, at least, January 2022. And it is also my understanding that Pellegrini has been scouring King for a site for a new hospital since 2019. In fact he said as much.

Pellegrini told the Era newspaper that the Province’s decision to remove the Rice lands from the Greenbelt had come like a bolt from the blue:

When without warning the province pulled the King land out of the Greenbelt, council capitalised on it by saying “at least give us a hospital”.

“Without warning.”

Good one!

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See also: Timeline: Southlake and the sale of the Greenbelt lands in King