Ontario Liberals Call for Minister Clark to Step Aside, End of the Multi-Billion-Dollar Greenbelt Giveaway

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
​August 9, 2023

QUEEN’S PARK – Today, the Auditor General of Ontario released the findings of a new report detailing how the Conservative’s Greenbelt Giveaway was hand-picked and directly influenced by wealthy developers that stood to benefit to the tune of 8.3 billion dollars.

In the new report, the Auditor General found that the Chief of Staff to the Minister of Housing hand-picked the land sites that would be removed from the Greenbelt – 92% of which were suggested to the Chief of Staff by prominent and wealthy developers who had inside access to Ministry staff, and who would be the direct beneficiaries of the land swaps.

The report also makes it clear that the Housing Minister’s Chief of Staff was operating under the direct authority of the Minister and the Premier’s Office.

“There is no way on God’s green Earth that Minister Clark’s Chief of Staff acted without the Minister’s full knowledge or direction,” said MPP Fraser. “Ministers make decisions; their Chiefs of Staff implement them.”

While everyday Ontarians struggle to keep up with the skyrocketing cost of living, this Conservative government is focused on ensuring their closest, most well-connected friends get richer. It is evident that Minister Clark is unable to conduct his ministerial duties in good faith or in the interest of Ontario families, and as a result, he must step aside.

Ontario Liberals are also calling on the provincial government to freeze all development on the lands involved in the Greenbelt Giveaway and end the multi-billion-dollar wealth transfer that has come at the unnecessary expense of our protected greenspaces, our sources of water, and the health and well-being of future generations.

“Doug Ford knew from day one that he was going to do this,” added MPP Fraser. “Five years ago, the Premier got caught promising a room of his wealthy friends that he would crack open the Greenbelt for development. The Premier needs to do the right thing by coming clean about his deception and ending the Greenbelt Giveaway.”