News   May 16, 2024
Lawrence Heights Community Recreation Centre Well Received at Design Review Panel
 580     1 
News   May 16, 2024
Charles at Church Rising with Heritage Restoration Recently Revealed
 801     0 
News   May 16, 2024
News Roundup for May 16, 2024
 594     0 

Premier Doug Ford's Ontario

globalnews.ca

Developers had direct influence over Ontario Greenbelt land removal, AG finds | Globalnews.ca

The explosive report from Bonnie Lysyk into the government's dealings with developers comes after a six-month investigation.
globalnews.ca globalnews.ca
In a speech delivered before taking questions in Toronto, the premier admitted the province “could have had a better process.”

He said he took responsibility for the decision and the process but was not informed about the details of what land would be removed until a cabinet was held to approve the changes.

“The buck stops with me and I take full responsibility for the need for a better process,” Ford said.

He said the government would implement 14 of the 15 recommendations put forward by Lysk’s team.
Click to expand...

My guess is that the 1 recommendation not being recommended is the largest - reevaluating the changes to the Greenbelt boundaries.
 
Last edited:
Northern Light said:
I'm not holding by breath, but aside from reversing the Greenbelt watering down, this really ought to lead to the ministers resignation.
Click to expand...
Indeed. Without reading the report itself or knowing the basis for her findings, I see potential for a criminal investigation surrounding the actions of the Housing Minister's Chief of Staff.
 
According to a timeline of key events, two prominent housing developers approached Clark's chief of staff in Sept. 2022 at a building industry event, and provided him with packages containing information on two sites in the Greenbelt — the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve (DRAP) in Pickering and a site in the Township of King that was purchased that very month for $80 million.
Click to expand...
Shortly after the September event, one of the developers provided Clark's chief of staff with information related to three other sites.

About 92 per cent of the land that was ultimately removed from the Greenbelt was requested to be removed by the developers the chief of staff dined with at [the event]," the report says.
Click to expand...

globalnews.ca

Developers had direct influence over Ontario Greenbelt land removal, AG finds | Globalnews.ca

The explosive report from Bonnie Lysyk into the government's dealings with developers comes after a six-month investigation.
globalnews.ca globalnews.ca
At an event on Sept. 14, 2022, for example, two “prominent developers” gave Amato packages containing information about two Greenbelt sites they wanted to see removed, the report said.

"The Chief of Staff sat at the same dinner table with one of these two developers,” the audit general wrote

The developers at the event ended up with 92 per cent of the land removed from the Greenbelt, Lysyk wrote.
Click to expand...

Ninety-five per cent of the land parcels reviewed by the team were handed to them by Clark’s chief of staff, and 92 per cent of the acreage removed from the Greenbelt was contained in five land sites passed on to the Housing Minister’s chief of staff from two developers.
Click to expand...

At a minimum, there should be an investigation into the Chief of Staff for corruption. The events laid out sound like every other kickbacks scheme that has ever been uncovered. Totally indefensible process, and the Minister claiming lack of knowledge is horseshit too.
 
Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Housing Minister Steve Clark speak with reporters at Queen’s Park. The news conference follows the release of Ontario Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk’s report on the Ford government’s decision to open parts of the Greenbelt for development. The report finds that the government's process for the selection and removal of lands from the Greenbelt was biased and afforded preferential treatment to certain developers.
Click to expand...

https://www.youtube.com/live/IHhSXZihai4?feature=share
 
wopchop said:



globalnews.ca

Developers had direct influence over Ontario Greenbelt land removal, AG finds | Globalnews.ca

The explosive report from Bonnie Lysyk into the government's dealings with developers comes after a six-month investigation.
globalnews.ca globalnews.ca




At a minimum, there should be an investigation into the Chief of Staff for corruption. The events laid out sound like every other kickbacks scheme that has ever been uncovered. Totally indefensible process, and the Minister claiming lack of knowledge is horseshit too.
Click to expand...
The Integrity Commissioner is still investigating - it's not over yet.
 
F3HWgCmXgAIZtSj
From link.
 
I find it unbelievable that there hasn't been any immediate resignations/firings, let alone backtracking on the whole thing. How can you trust a government when they are blatant crooks? I mean, no gov't is perfect and there's always pork etc. But this is on a whole new level IMHO.
 
tripwire said:
I find it unbelievable that there hasn't been any immediate resignations/firings, let alone backtracking on the whole thing. How can you trust a government when they are blatant crooks? I mean, no gov't is perfect and there's always pork etc. But this is on a whole new level IMHO.
Click to expand...

It's a Ford government and it is built tough.

Ford will not resign unless there is a scandal on the scale of Ipperwash or Walkerton which implicates him.
 
tripwire said:
I find it unbelievable that there hasn't been any immediate resignations/firings, let alone backtracking on the whole thing. How can you trust a government when they are blatant crooks? I mean, no gov't is perfect and there's always pork etc. But this is on a whole new level IMHO.
Click to expand...
It's Ford! He runs a majority government, he knows there is very little the opposition can do. He will not resign, nor will he fire anyone since he is an accomplish and knew darn well what was cooking in the friends and family kitchen. He is a control freak and regardless of his denials, redirections, he knew what was going on. The statement he is not friends with hs builders buddies makes me laugh. Can we all agree no one invites "builder strangers" to a family wedding?
 
At least they didn't try to put the blame on Dalton McGuinty.

Ontario's integrity commissioner is considering a request from Premier Doug Ford's government to investigate if the housing minister's chief of staff broke any ethics rules connected to the province's choice of Greenbelt land to open for development.

A spokesperson for David Wake's office said Thursday that if an investigation is launched, it would determine whether political staffer Ryan Amato "acted contrary to the requirements of the Public Service of Ontario Act, 2006," which include conflict of interest rules.

The request, which was made by Ford's office, is "under review," the spokesperson said. It comes in the wake of an explosive report from Ontario's auditor general that concluded the government's Greenbelt land swaps in 2022 were heavily influenced by a small group of politically connected developers.

At a news conference Wednesday, both Ford and Clark denied they had knowledge of how Amato and his team were selecting sites for removal from the Greenbelt. When asked whether Amato would keep his job, Clark refused to answer directly.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/housing-minister-chief-staff-integrity-commissioner-1.6932582
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top