Developers with ties to the Ford government saw value of land they own skyrocket when portions of the Greenbelt were opened up for development, according to Ontario's auditor general.
Bonnie Lysyk's damning report was released on Wednesday and highlights the government's dealings with developers in a process that she said "cannot be described as a standard or defensible."
The Greenbelt was opened for development in the months following the Progressive Conservative's 2022 election victory, and immediately generated controversy with accusations of insiders receiving benefits from the deals.
Lysyk's report confirmed that's what happened.
“While the people of Ontario deserve prompt action to solve societal problems like those generated by a need for housing, this does not mean that government and non-elected political staff should sideline or abandon protocols and processes that are important to guide objective and transparent decision-making based on sufficient and accurate information,” said Lysyk in her report.
Some of the key points:
Just after the 2022 election, Premier Doug Ford directed Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark to conduct “swaps, expansions, contractions and policy updates” for the Greenbelt.
Over a timeline of just three weeks, government staff were instructed to find 22 parcels of Greenbelt land for development.
Clark's chief of staff, Ryan Amato, received “packages” from “two prominent housing developers” at a September 14 dinner, with specific parcels of Greenbelt land to target for development.
The parcels of land identified for development were announced a few weeks later in November.
The report said that only 22 Greenbelt sites were assessed for removal, ignoring other sites that may have met the criteria.
Ninety-two percent of the 7,400 acres that were removed from the protected area were taken out as a result of developer influence on Amato, the report said
Some lands failed to meet the development criteria, and Lysyk's report says the criteria was then changed to specifically allow pieces of land owned by developers with access to the government to be removed from the protected area
Amato wasn't named in the report, but various online profiles tie him to the government and list him as Clark's Chief of Staff in 2022.
“Provincial government actions in 2022 to open parts of the Greenbelt for development failed to consider environmental, agricultural and financial risks and impacts, proceeded with little input from experts or affected parties, and favoured certain developers/landowners,” Lysyk said in a news release.
The opposition parties were quick to condemn Ford and Clark in the wake of the report.
“Let’s call this what it is: corruption. Ontarians deserve better than a government that enriches a select number of party donors at the expense of hard-working Ontarians,” said Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles. “This is not about Mr. Ford, this is not about politics, this is about reinstating Ontarians’ trust in their government. Trust that this government has seriously eroded with their insider dealings and culture of corruption that goes all the way up to the Premier.”
Stiles is calling for Amato to be fired, Clark to be removed from the housing portfolio, and the lands involved to be returned to the Greenbelt.
"What this demonstrates to me is a total lack of care for the people of Ontario – a willingness to break all the rules to sell off the land that feeds us and protects to wealthy insiders, leaving the rest of us to foot the bill," said Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner. "While the rich get richer, we lose thousands of acres of prime farmland, wetlands and woodlands."
Lysyk says she has met with Ontario Provincial Police about the file and whether to conduct an investigation is up to them.