Admist calls for the resignation of Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark after the auditor general’s bombshell report, Ontario premier Doug Ford says he will implement all but one of the recommendations of the audit.
“We know that there are areas for improvement,” Ford said. “We were moving fast, we could have had a better process.”
“As premier the buck stops with me and I take full responsibility for the need for better process,” he added. “That’s why we support and will implement 14 of the (Auditor General) report’s 15 recommendations.”
Ford said that doing so “will strengthen government process”.
Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk’s investigation into the release on Greenbelt lands for development by the Doug Ford government concluded that ‘selection was biased’ and ‘favoured certain developers and land owners’.
“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 special report tabled today with the Legislature.
Lysyk also noted that the owners of the 15 land sites removed from the Greenbelt could ultimately see more than an $8.3 billion increase to the value of their properties.
Opposition parties called for Minister Clark’s resignation after the auditor general’s report was released.
“It’s indefensible what we’re seeing here,” said Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles, who led the request for the probe. “If the premier or the minister want to come out and say, ‘Actually, we were just wildly incompetent. Willfully blind.’ Fine. Otherwise. I think it’s pretty clear that these decisions serve the interests of [Progressive] Conservative Party donors and friends.”
“There is no way on God’s green Earth that Minister Clark’s Chief of Staff acted without the Minister’s full knowledge or direction,” Ontario Liberal Party Leader John Fraser said in a statement. “Ministers make decisions; their Chiefs of Staff implement them.”
“All along, this government’s agenda has been to favour wealthy, elite insiders at the expense of everyday Ontarians. Now, we have a report that shows it – and the evidence is staggering,” Ontario Greens leader Mike Schreiner stated.
