A much-publicized Ontario Auditor General report points the finger at the housing minister’s chief of staff regarding “biased” decisions to open Greenbelt land for development.
Housing Minister Steve Clark said on Aug. 11 that Commissioner J. David Wake has had Mr. Amato’s cooperation.
“My chief and I continue to work with and collaborate with the integrity commissioner on the investigation. The government moved very quickly on that recommendation yesterday, and we'll continue to work with him, answer his questions, and assist him in the investigation,” Mr. Clark said at a joint press conference with Mr. Ford in Mississauga.
Will Change ‘How We Accept Information’
Ms. Lysyk’s investigation, launched at the same time as Mr. Wake’s, did not find evidence of Mr. Ford or Mr. Clark having tipped off developers. At the Aug. 11 press conference, Mr. Clark noted that her report takes issue with how Mr. Amato received information from developers but does not say inside information was given to developers.“There’s a big difference between asking for information and disclosing government policy,” Mr. Clark said. “In the auditor general’s report, it talks about changing the process around how we accept information.”
He said the ministry will improve that process, following Ms. Lysyk’s recommendations.
A reporter asked if Mr. Amato would be the “fall guy” and shoulder the blame for what Mr. Ford and Mr. Clark have admitted was a “flawed” decision-making process.
‘Preferential Treatment’
Mr. Ford contested Ms. Lysyk’s statement in her report that certain land developer requests had “preferential treatment.”“No one had preferential treatment,” he said.
Ms. Lysyk said in her report that Mr. Amato changed the criteria for selecting sites to favour the developers he had contact with at an industry event in September 2022. Mr. Amato gave staff working on the selection three weeks to make the decision and imposed confidentiality provisions. This limited their ability to appropriately assess the land sites, Ms. Lysyk said.
She noted that the ministry has received hundreds of requests to open land in the Greenbelt for development since it became protected in 2005. Yet the team tasked with selecting the final 15 sites was given only 22 to choose from, 21 of which were directly suggested by Mr. Amato.
Mr. Ford said it’s not about preference, it’s about building needed affordable homes quickly.
He said his message to the people who own the properties is, “[If] you don’t get shovels in the ground, [if] we don’t see progression rapidly, that land’s going back in the Greenbelt.”
Mr. Clark said the Progressive Conservatives campaigned on building 1.5 million homes quickly. “So we'll continue to build upon those more-housing-supply action plans. ... We’re going to continue to work on strong mayor powers for municipalities so they can get shovels in the ground faster,” he said, referring to powers that allow some Ontario mayors to push forward decisions without council approval.
Mr. Clark and Mr. Ford said 1.8 million homes is now a more likely estimate of how many are needed, in light of high federal immigration targets announced after the 1.5 million figure was established.
Their decision to remove 7,400 acres from the Greenbelt to build about 50,000 homes was finalized in December 2022. It also adds 9,400 acres to the Greenbelt in other areas.
They have said they will follow all of Ms. Lysyk’s recommendations but one: that they reconsider the decision to open the selected sites for development. They say the urgency is too great to backtrack.
Mr. Ford said the developers will be on the hook for billions in infrastructure, such as schools, to go along with the houses to be built on the land. At least 10 percent of the housing must be considered “affordable,” he said.
