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“We found that how the land sites were selected was not transparent, fair, objective, or fully informed. It also can be shown that there was sufficient land for the target of 1.5 million homes to be built without the need to build on the Greenbelt.”
-Bonnie Lysyk, Auditor General of Ontario
On November 4, 2022, Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative Government of Ontario announced a proposal to remove roughly 7,400 acres of Greenbelt land from protected status, ostensibly to free up land for much-needed housing.
The proposed scheme was to adjust the Greenbelt’s boundaries so that around 50,000 new homes could be built on formerly protected land by 2025. To compensate for this, Greenbelt protection could be extended to (or “swapped” for) an equivalent or larger chunk of land somewhere less desirably situated for housing development purposes.
Less than a year later, amidst embarrassing revelations of procedural irregularities and ethics violations, both the Housing Minister and his Chief of Staff have resigned in quick succession, while federal law enforcement ponders a formal investigation of the entire affair.
Below, we explain exactly what happened in Ontario’s Greenbelt privation scandal and why.
What is the Greenbelt?
Established by the Government of Ontario in 2005, the Greenbelt was meant to serve as a permanently protected area of farmland, forests, wetlands, and watersheds.
Comprising roughly 2 million acres of protected land in total, it surrounds the Golden Horseshoe, one of the most densely populated regions of Canada, which includes major cities like Toronto and Hamilton.
The goal of the Greenbelt’s creation was to protect environmentally sensitive land and contain urban sprawl, while supporting agricultural and recreational uses.
What did the Ford Government do?
As detailed in the Auditor General of Ontario’s Special Report on Changes to the Greenbelt, published on August 9, 2023, the Greenbelt land-swap process was deeply flawed from the outset.
On September 14, 2022, Ryan Amato, former Chief of Staff to Ontario’s now-former Housing Minister Steve Clark, had dinner with two “prominent housing developers and a registered lobbyist” at a real estate industry event. The developers reportedly used the event as an opportunity to push for their lands to be stripped of Greenbelt protection, and Mr. Amato - soon to be entrusted with responsibility for the whole Greenbelt land-swap project - proved eager to accommodate.
Ultimately, the property owned by Mr. Amato’s dinner companions encompassed roughly 92% of the land removed from Greenbelt protection. Its removal from protected status would enrich the developers to the tune of an estimated $8.3 billion (based on 2016 valuation numbers and not taking into account valuation increases since then).
The report makes clear Mr. Amato was the driving force in achieving this result, including by:
Giving the small team of public servants assembled to assess Greenbelt sites for removal just three weeks to complete their assessment;
Providing the team 21 out of 22 sites to assess for removal, despite the Housing Ministry being in possession of about 630 site removal requests, which - in something resembling a fair and impartial process – would have likely been subject to review;
Altering assessment criteria to achieve desired results. For instance, when the criterion that considered environmental and agricultural factors inconveniently excluded most of his proposed sites, Amato instructed the team to simply drop the criterion;
Failing to adequately consult municipalities, the public, or indigenous communities affected by the changes, and completely ignoring feedback received (e.g., 35,000 overwhelmingly negative comments received about the project were not properly analyzed or addressed, and had no impact on the proposed land removals); and
Failing to assess the suitability of land added to the Greenbelt to compensate for the removals, with the result that sites were added “without consideration for hydrological, ecological or geological features.”
What about the Housing Minister?
The inquiry into Minister Clark’s role, published by the Integrity Commissioner, J. David Wake, K.C. on August 30, 2023, revealed that “Mr. Amato was operating largely alone and undirected.”
Commissioner Wake concluded that Minister Clark left the “untrained and unsupervised” Amato, who had never held a similar position, to embark on a “chaotic and almost reckless process” that “resulted in the creation of an opportunity to further the private interests of some developers improperly.”
The Minister also ostensibly failed to ask Amato how the properties had been selected for removal - he simply took Amato’s proposals to cabinet.
The Commissioner ultimately found Minister Clark in breach of prohibitions on conflicts of interest and insider information under ss. 2 and 3(2) of the Members Integrity Act, 1994, and recommended he be reprimanded by the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.
Under immense public pressure, Steve Clark resigned as Housing Minister on September 4, 2023 - apparently unrepentant. His letter of resignation cites only the need “not to be a distraction” as his reason for quitting. The lands removed from Greenbelt protection remain stripped of protected status. Clark retains his seat as MPP for the Leeds–Grenville–Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes riding.
MPP Clark has been replaced as Ontario Housing Minister by MPP Paul Calandra (Markham-Stouffville), who is privately referred to by other MPPs as the Ford Government’s “Darth Vader”.
What is the damage?
Following review of the ordeal, Ontario’s auditor concluded that “the removal of Greenbelt lands was not needed to meet the government’s housing goals,” not least because “shortage of land is not the cause of the province’s housing challenges.”
Worse still, in addition to the environmental and agricultural damage privation can be expected to cause now-unprotected Greenbelt lands, the targeted 1.5 million new homes - the ostensive goal of the entire project – are also unlikely to be built by the government’s target date of 2025.
There is also no framework in place to monitor whether land removed from the Greenbelt will actually be developed in accordance with the government’s “publicly communicated expectations.”
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) is currently looking into the matter and considering a formal investigation. Meaning criminal charges could be forthcoming.
UPDATE - SEPTEMBER 21, 2023
Following reports of potentially improper dealings with a real estate developer in connection the Greenbelt scandal, MPP Kaleed Rasheed (Mississauga East-Cooksville) has resigned as Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery and will no longer serve as a member of the Progressive Conservative party.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford has now also said he will reverse policy on the Greenbelt land-swap plan. It remains unclear if - albeit likely that - affected developers will receive taxpayer-funded compensation on account of the reversal.
Please contact our firm at 647-725-4308 or info@greeneconomylaw.com for legal assistance in connection with Ontario environment and housing policy matters.