It was a set of recommendations to ensure that the Greenbelt scandal, a controversial chapter in Ontario’s political history, would never happen again.
A detailed investigation by Ontario’s auditor general into the government’s decision to remove 15 parcels of protected land from the Greenbelt resulted in 15 recommendations for systems-wide improvement.
As the one-year anniversary of that report approaches, the Ford government says it has completed all but one of the recommendations – quick work that the government hopes will help turn the page on the bruising scandal.
“We’re well on our way moving forward,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said at an unrelated news conference on Tuesday. “We’re going to keep moving forward building homes everywhere other than the Greenbelt.”
But remnants of the Greenbelt scandal continue to linger over a government that is under an active RCMP investigation into whether the decision-making process rose to the level of criminality.
In Part 2 of a three-part anniversary series, Global News looks into the auditor’s recommendations, the government’s progress and the police investigation.
Government reluctantly accepts all recommendations
On the day the auditor general found certain developers had received “preferential treatment” and could benefit to the tune of $8 billion from the Greenbelt policy, Ford held a news conference.
“The buck stops with me and I take full responsibility for the need for a better process,” Ford said.
The premier immediately accepted 14 of the 15 recommendations from the auditor general, which included stopping staff from using personal emails to communicate, avoiding confidentiality agreements that she believed tied civil servants in straight jackets and a severe tightening of conflict of interest rules in his government.
Ford initially refused to reverse the Greenbelt plan, despite the auditor general’s suggestion he do so. After just over a month, and several high-profile resignations, the premier apologized and accepted all of the suggestions the auditor general had sent his way, including scrapping his Greenbelt policy.
Soon after, as the province tried to distance itself from the decision-making the Ford government stopped talking about its progress, working behind the scenes to action the demands. Some critics feel the lack of public updates raised questions about the premier’s commitment.
Ontario Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie said she did not trust Ford and his government to complete the recommendations set out for them by the auditor general.
“People should not trust Doug Ford to do what he’s saying he’s doing,” she told Global News.
“What we need is a government who will have ethics in their governance, who will be transparent and accountable to the people, not just stand up and apologize and move on.”
Crombie called on the province to release “the evidence” of its progress toward completing the vast majority of the auditor general’s recommendations in the interest of “accountability.”
Majority of recommendations complete
The lapses in processes and judgement highlighted by the auditor general’s report, along with the direct influence held by developers over some government decisions, kept the integrity commissioner busy for months.
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The Ford government shared a document with Global News listing the 15 recommendations and chronicling the steps it had taken to address them.
First, as it sought to respond to the scandal, the government requested an investigation into former housing minister Steve Clark’s chief of staff, Ryan Amato, from the integrity commissioner.
Both the integrity commissioner and the auditor general painted Amato as a central figure in the scandal, suggesting he had led the Greenbelt land removal process, with minimal input from Ford or Clark.
Amato did not respond to a request for an interview from Global News, while Clark said he supports the government’s work on the auditor general’s recommendations and said he was “pleased that we are well on our way to completing them.”
Next, the integrity commissioner was brought in for a fresh round of ethics training. He met with senior political staff on Oct. 26, 2023, to “reinforce” ethics training, doing the same again on Feb. 14 and 16, 2024.
The government said other recommendations, including tracking how often confidentiality agreements are used and creating a central digital system where staff must upload anything given to them by lobbyists, have also been completed.
The latter recommendation comes after the auditor general’s investigation found political staff were being handed direct requests to remove land from the Greenbelt.
Under the new process, introduced in February, staff are told to “upload materials received from lobbyists and third-party stakeholders that have been, or are being considered in the process of decision-making.” The data is then reviewed weekly by chiefs of staff, according to the premier’s office.
Final recommendation punted to committee
On Wednesday, Ford stressed the majority of recommendations had been completed, including reversing the Greenbelt decision after months of pressure.
“There’s 15 recommendations, we’ve taken 14 of them, implemented them and we’re working on the 15th one,” Ford said.
The final recommendation the government is yet to complete is a wide-reaching review of lobbying laws in Ontario. The auditor general found lobbyist registration and oversight should be strengthened through the integrity commissioner’s office, instructing the government to make changes.
That decision, however, has been punted to a committee. An update on the recommendations shared with Global News by the premier’s office suggested that a legislative committee should consider the change rather than the premier’s office or another government ministry.
Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles said she was skeptical the government had learned from the scandal and could avoid repeating it.
“I don’t think that under this premier and and his conservative politicians, I fear that the lessons they’ve learned is that they need to try different ways to hide what their intentions are,” she told Global News.
“I can’t believe it’s only been a year because there have been other issues,” Stiles continued. “I do think that the sort of shenanigans of the Ford government with the Greenbelt is only a part of the story.”
RCMP investigation continues in background
While the Ford government was quick to check off the list of recommendations, what it has little control over is the RCMP investigation looming over Queen’s Park.
The Ontario Provincial Police, which initially opened up a file on the Greenbelt, kicked up the investigation to the RCMP, citing a desire to avoid a perception of conflict of interest.
Since then, however, there are been few signs of progress.
The Mounties have refused to release an update on their investigation and key players in the scandal have yet to be approached by RCMP detectives.
“While the RCMP understands that this issue is of significant interest to the people of Ontario, this is an ongoing investigation, and we need to protect the integrity of our investigation,” an RCMP spokesperson told Global News. “The RCMP will not be providing any further information or updates at this time.”
What’s also unclear is the extent to which the RCMP has engaged with the government and civil service to uncover evidence related to the Greenbelt decision-making process.
Global News asked the Cabinet Office, which bridges the gap between the civil service and the political side of government, whether the Mounties had visited the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing offices or whether any information had been shared with investigators.
“Ontario public service staff cooperate with all law enforcement investigations and will continue to do so. Out of respect for the RCMP process we will not be commenting any further,” a cabinet office spokesperson told Global News in May.
Bonnie Lysyk, who handled much of the sensitive evidence related to the Greenbelt including emails and interviews, said she has not been approached by any policing agency.
Global News asked Lysyk whether the material she gathered through her legislative powers could be shared with police. She said police “usually want to go to the source of information” and suggested she would “just indicate to them” where to access it.
“They have to go reaffirm their own evidence,” Lysyk added. “So (the investigation) will be taking them back to the primary people that were involved in the process.”
Critics of the government believe the investigation will eventually lead to the premier’s office.
“I think it’s been proven that there has been a direct line from the premier’s office into the Greenbelt scandal with his benefactors, donors, rich friends,” Crombie said.
“He got caught (and) we need to know who knew what, when.”