Premier Doug Ford says he is “confident” no one in his government warned developers about plans to open up some previously protected land in Ontario’s Green Belt.
Ford made the comments to reporters at a news conference in London on Friday, just two days after Ontario’s integrity commissioner confirmed his office would investigate whether Housing Minister Steve Clark notified developers in advance of the changes.
The investigation comes after multiple media outlets reported that major developers have purchased land in the Greenbelt since the Progressive Conservative government was first elected in 2018, with the most recent transaction taking place in September.
“I’m confident that no one warned anyone,” Ford said. “This is not government land. This is private land. They have the right to sell to whoever they want.
The Ford government issued new regulations last month that will remove 7,400 acres from the protected Greenbelt, effectively opening up that land to housing for the first time.
At the same time, the government is adding 9,400 acres of Greenbelt land elsewhere.
Ford insisted the Greenbelt changes are necessary for the province to meet its goal of building 1.5 million new homes over the next decade.
However, opposition parties at Queen’s Park suggest the move will only enrich developers.
“It’s not just out in the middle of some swamp or something,” Ford insisted. “It collided with an existing community. So you have a community with all services on one side of the road with hundreds if not thousands of homes and on the other side of the road you have an empty field. We have people coming here. We have to build homes.”
In a statement provided to CTV News Toronto earlier this week, a spokesperson for Clark said the minister “looks forward to being cleared of any wrongdoing following the conclusion of the (Integrity Commissioner’s) investigation.”
Ford did not comment specifically on the integrity commissioner’s investigation on Friday. In a report released on Wednesday, Commissioner David Wake said both the Premier and Clarke had informed his office “that the selection of the affected lands was made by public officials who were subject to enhanced confidentiality protocol and that the minister was informed and accepted their proposal just a few days before presenting it to the cabinet.
The anti-racketeering branch of the Ontario Provincial Police said it is still reviewing the complaints filed against the Ford government to determine whether to investigate further.
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