Ford government to introduce bill that will return Greenbelt land and codify its boundries
The Ontario government is expected to introduce legislation Monday that would return parcels of land to the Greenbelt as well as codify its boundaries.
Little else is known about what will be in the bill, but Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Paul Calandra previously told reporters it will be an “added extra layer of protection that doesn’t currently exist,” ensuring that future changes will have to be made through legislation rather than regulation.
The Doug Ford government used regulations to alter the boundaries of the Greenbelt less than a year ago, removing 15 sites equaling about 7,400 acres of protected land without a vote in the legislature.
An additional 9,400 acres of land was also added to the Greenbelt, but the majority of land was already protected under other means.
Since the land removal took place both the province’s auditor general and integrity commissioner has found that certain developers were favoured in the selection process.
According to the auditor general, about 92 per cent of the land removed from the Greenbelt benefitted three developers who had ties to the housing ministry and met with the then-minister’s chief of staff at an industry dinner.
The owners of the 15 land sites chosen through this process could see more than an $8.3 billion increase to the values of their properties, the auditor found.
The chief of staff primarily responsible for choosing the sites resigned after the report was made public.
Former Housing Minister Steve Clark also resigned from his cabinet position after the integrity commissioner found he broke ethics rules by “failing to oversee the process by which lands in the Greenbelt were selected to development.”
Both reports reveal a decision-making process that significantly lacked transparency and consultation, failing to take both environmental and financial factors into account. It also led to a reversal of the decision, with the premier apologizing for removing the lands in the first place.
The legislation also comes on the heels of a freshly-announced criminal investigation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
The RCMP confirmed last week that it is looking into “allegations associated to the decision from the Province of Ontario to open parts of the Greenbelt for development.”
Little information has been released so far about the specific allegations being reviewed; however the RCMP did say its provincial Sensitive and International Investigations Unit is the one leading the investigation.
The unit typically investigates allegations of fraud, corruption and breach of trust by elected officials.
The RCMP was referred the file by the Ontario Provincial Police back in August to avoid “any perceived conflict of interest.” The provincial police’s anti-rackets branch had been reviewing complaints since mid-December.
This article was reported by CTV News
