Ontario auditor general to make decision on Greenbelt investigation next week

Ontario’s auditor general will be releasing her decision next week regarding requests made by opposition leaders to investigate the financial and environmental impacts of the Doug Ford government’s plans to develop the Greenbelt.

“We’ve received a lot of correspondence on this,” Bonnie Lysyk told CTV News Toronto over the phone.

“We’ve been thinking about it for the last while, so we’ll be responding next week, taking into account all of the information we’ve been receiving.”

It’s unclear when next week a decision will be released, but Lysyk said it will be “probably earlier than later.”

A number of factors go into whether or not the auditor general takes on a new investigation, Lysyk said, including staff availability, the importance of the issue ,and how her office can look at the issue objectively. The fact the most recent request was made jointly by all three opposition parties will also be taken into consideration.

“That does put some weight on it,” she said.

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Incoming Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles, interim Ontario Liberal Party Leader John Fraser and Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner released a joint request on Wednesday calling for a value-for-money audit and assessment of the government’s decision to remove lands from the Greenbelt for development, as well as the repeal of the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve Act (DRAP).

“Over the last few months, we have independently raised concerns with the government’s decision to remove 7,400 acres of land from the Greenbelt to allow for development on what was protected land,” the joint letter reads.

The province is set to build thousands of homes on about 7,400 acres of land, despite calls to protect the Greenbelt and repeal the Dufferins Rouge Agricultural Preserve Act (DRAP), which had easements protecting the land as farmland in perpetuity.

“The removal of protections from these lands has instantly shifted wealth to property owners, who have likely benefited substantially from the rezoning of this land from undevelopable agricultural land to developable land,” the letter reads.

Ontarians deserve answers. I've written a joint letter with @JohnFraserOS & @MikeSchreiner requesting that the Auditor General conduct both a value-for-money audit and environmental impact assessment of the government’s decision to remove lands from the #Greenbelt. #onpoli pic.twitter.com/jpNG1xHO6X

— Marit Stiles (@maritstiles) January 12, 2023

Several large developers have purchased Greenbelt land since the Ford government was first elected in 2018, including a recent investment made in September of 2022.

Advocacy groups like Environmental Defence and Democracy Watch requested Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) launch an investigation, claiming developers were tipped off on the plans.

OPP’s anti-rackets branch confirmed its has been looking into complaints made against the provincial government to see whether or not a full-blown investigation is warranted since mid-December.

In the joint letter, opposition leaders also voice concerns about the potentially negative environmental impacts of removing the protections the DRAP lands would bring, citing a letter from Parks Canada to the province.

“In their submission to the provincial government, Parks Canada wrote, ‘there is probably risk of irreversible harm to wildlife, natural ecosystems and agricultural landscapes within Rouge National Urban Park,’” the letter reads.

The provincial leaders urge Lysyk, to investigate “given the strong likelihood of negative impacts” on the environment following the removal of Greenbelt’s lands to make way for housing developments.

“Additionally, we are requesting a value-for-money audit investigating how much public wealth has been transferred to property owners and whether these land transactions are in the public interest,” the letter read.

A map provided by the Ontario government shows what areas of the greenbelt will be removed and added.

Premier Ford and Housing Minister Steve Clark have both repeatedly denied tipping off developers about their plans in the Greenbelt.

“I'm the housing minister. I meet with people who want to build housing, whether they’re Habitat for Humanity, whether they're Ontario Aboriginal Housing Services, whether they're a private home builder that builds one home a year or 1,000 homes. That's what I do,” Clark said late November.

“I followed all of the rules that our government has put forward for posting. I didn't hide the posting. I was honest, open and transparent.”

When asked about the auditor general request at a news conference Thursday morning, Ford said he believes his government has been “very transparent.”

“At the end of the day, we need more homes,” he said.