Both Ontario’s integrity commissioner and auditor general will launch investigations into the Doug Ford government’s plans to develop the Greenbelt.
Auditor General Bonnie Lysik told CTV New Toronto that her office will begin a value-for-money audit of the financial and environmental impacts of removing more than 7,000 acres of previously protected land.
“We’re going to start it right now and we hope to finish it in 2023,” she said by phone on Wednesday.
Lysyk told CTV News Toronto last week that having a request from the three leaders added weight to her decision to investigate the allegations.
In the joint motion, Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles, Liberal Party Interim Leader John Fraser and Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner argue that removing these parcels of land, as well as repealing the Dauphins Rouge Agricultural Reserves Act, will change fortunes for property owners and have a “detrimental impact on parkland and the local ecosystem”.
The final scope of the auditor general’s investigation will be determined in the next month or two.
Ontario’s integrity commissioner also said he will launch an investigation into whether the province’s housing minister warned developers before revealing plans to open Greenbelt.
Commissioner David Wake announced the decision in a report released late Wednesday afternoon. In the report, he said a request made by Stiles was found to have “reasonable and probable grounds” for an investigation.
In his ruling, Wake said the affidavit Stiles provided was extensive and included both media reports and “direct evidence.”
A separate but similar request made by Schreiner was denied by the committee.
Stiles made the request on December 8 after multiple media outlets reported that major developers had purchased land in the Greenbelt since the Progressive Conservative government was first elected in 2018. One of those investments was not made until September 2022.
In the motion, Stiles alleges that Housing Minister Steve Clark violated the Members’ Integrity Act when it came to the decision to allow the development in the Greenbelt and Dauphins Rouge Agricultural Reserve.
The two sections of the law in question cover conflicts of interest and insider trading.
“I want to say that this complaint is based on extensive and extensive research by our team,” Stiles told reporters on Wednesday.
In the report, Wake wrote that both Premier Doug Ford and Clark have denied disclosing the lands selected for possible development to a developer.
“They advised that the selection of the affected lands was made by civil servants who were subject to a protocol of heightened confidentiality and that the minister was informed and accepted their proposal just days before presenting it to the cabinet and the government made its announcement shortly after that,” the report said.
Stiles said her complaint included reports of improper lobbying, in addition to a Section 2 and Section 3 violation.
“When we made our requests, we certainly felt there was a strong case, greater evidence in relation to the minister and his former staff, and I stand by that and we’ll see what the integrity commissioner takes.”
The Ontario Liberals called the decision to investigate the Greenbelt development “good news.”
“The more people that get into it, the better. It just doesn’t smell good and has the stench of insider trading,” Fraser said in a statement.
“The ties between the government and the people who benefited the most are too close. Ontarians have a right to know if the government gave their friends advance notice of their plans to tear up the Greenbelt.”
The anti-racketeering branch of the Ontario Provincial Police confirmed Wednesday that it is still reviewing complaints against the Ford government to determine whether to investigate further.
CTV News Toronto has reached out to Clarke’s office for comment.
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