A central figure in the Greenbelt scandal has been banned from lobbying the Ontario government for two years, after the province’s integrity watchdog determined the lobbyist illegally charged fees to influence public policy and put politicians in a conflict of interest position.
John Mutton, the former mayor of Clarington-turned lobbyist, allegedly violated the province’s Lobbyist Registration Act on multiple occasions, according to the integrity commissioner, on behalf of a client who wanted their lands removed from the Greenbelt in 2021 and 2022.
To influence the decision-making process, the commissioner said, Mutton’s firm organized political fundraisers for public office holders and offered politicians tickets to NBA games and other gifts, while also charging clients “success” fees totaling more than $600,000 for the work.
The Ford government’s decision in 2022 to remove 7,400 acres of land from the Greenbelt led to public blowback, an active RCMP investigation, an apology and reversals from Premier Doug Ford.
The land was removed from the Greenbelt in 2022 in a move the auditor general suggested would benefit select developers by more than $8 billion. It was returned to its protected status the next year when Ford apologized.
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As the Ford government began considering changes to the Greenbelt in 2022, Mutton’s lobbying firm, Municipal Solutions, signed a contract with a property owner in Clarington to convince the government to allow development on the land.
According to emails between the owner and Mutton, shared by the integrity commissioner, Mutton then met with Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing staff and claimed he would offer rounds of golf and tickets to a Toronto Raptors game.
The commissioner said Mutton also “organized a political fundraiser” to two public office holders, who he was also directly lobbying just two months before the 2022 provincial election.
Mutton, the commissioner alleged, then told another politician that he raised $5,000 at a political fundraiser and the funds directly benefitted the unnamed public office holder.
“Mr. Mutton’s several failures to register, use of contingency fees, and disregard of the conflict of interest prohibition undermine the Act’s purpose of transparency and public confidence in the independence of public sector decision making,” the integrity commissioner said.
The two-year ban, the most serious punishment the commissioner is legally allowed to hand out, reflected the “the significant number of serious contraventions,” it added.
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