with investigators Ontario Provincial Police has quietly begun conducting interviews to determine whether to launch an investigation into the Ford government’s controversial decision to open up parts of Ontario green belt for development.
The OPP received numerous complaints from environmental groups and members of the public after the government revealed that 7,400 acres of land would be removed from the greenbelt and converted into a housing development, prompting Ford to retain the area during the 2018 election campaign. had broken his promise.
Further questions were raised after a Toronto Star/Narwhal investigation found that a developer had purchased 700 acres of greenbelt land in September, weeks before the government announced plans to open that property to development.
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One of the groups interviewed by police told Global News that investigators had received more than a dozen complaints and were taking the matter “seriously”.
“They will make a determination this month about whether to conduct a more formal investigation,” said Tim Gray with Environmental Defense.
An OPP spokesperson confirmed that the Anti-Rackets Branch has started working on the file.
“The OPP Anti-Rackets Branch continues to review information received from complainants to determine if there is any evidence to support a genuine investigation,” the OPP said in a statement.
Premier Doug Ford’s office told Global News that the OPP has not worked with the government to date.
“No one in the Prime Minister’s Office or any member of government has been contacted and no documents have been requested by the OPP on this matter,” a Ford spokesperson said in a statement.
By the end of 2022, both Ford and his housing minister Steve Clark denied his plans to allow homes to be built on parts of the greenbelt had been notified in advance to developers, including those who supported the Progressive Conservative Party. was donated to
Opponents and critics of the Ford government criticized the deal, filing complaints to the province’s integrity commissioner, auditor general and police.
Gray said at the heart of the case is whether the recipients of the billions of dollars knew about the government’s plan ahead of time.
“We think there is an argument to be made here that what the province did, if they negotiated with the developers ahead of time, is something under the criminal code – which is a criminal breach of trust by a public official,” Gray said. he said .
In a separate statement to Global News in December, the Ontario Provincial Police confirmed that it had “received requests from members of the public and advocacy groups to investigate the circumstances surrounding the proposed greenbelt development.”
At the time, the force said it was reviewing the requests to determine whether there were grounds for an investigation.
Both the Integrity Commissioner’s Office and the Auditor General confirmed they had received the complaints.
The controversial plan, announced by Clark in November, removed land from 15 different areas of the greenbelt, adding acres elsewhere so that 50,000 homes could be built.
Clark told reporters that while he regularly “meets with people who want to build housing” he “followed all the rules” when the government posted a proposal to amend the greenbelt to Ontario’s environmental registry.
Minister Clark said in November, “I didn’t hide the posting, I was honest, open and transparent.”
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