Ontario and Smart Growth

Here's an interesting article from the Toronto Star, by way of Spacing, on Ontario's adoption of a Smart Growth policy. I know that they have been commissioning reports from the Neptis Foundation right left and centre for several years, but it appears that the province is going to officially adopt such a policy. The most important facet of Smart Growth is that it involves planning growth on a wider scale, rather than the ad-hoc nature of most suburban development. Carefully planning out safe and walkable neighbourhoods to complement and feed public transit corridors. And of course the words 'sustainable' and 'sustainability' are rampant in the Smart Growth reports.

The article mentions that this adoption will not only affect municipalities (having to conform to the provincial legislation), but will permeate through all provincial departments. Using the article's example, the government liquor stores will no longer be able to locate in strip malls surrounded by parking. This shouldn't be only accomplished through tough legislation, though. Federal and Provincial governments should implement policies of 'consistency' (for lack of a better word) to avoid such obvious hypocrisy.