Ontario integrity commissioner and auditor general to investigate Greenbelt development
CTV
Both the Ontario integrity commissioner and the auditor general will be opening an investigation into the Doug Ford government’s plans to develop the Greenbelt.
Both the Ontario integrity commissioner and the auditor general will be opening an investigation into the Doug Ford government’s plans to develop the Greenbelt.
Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk told CTV New Toronto that her office will be starting a value-for-money audit into the financial and environmental impacts of the removal of more than 7,000 acres of previously protected land.
“We'll be starting it immediately and hoping to finish it in 2023,” she said over the phone on Wednesday.
Lysyk told CTV News Toronto last week that having a request from all three leaders added weight to her decision to investigate the claims.
In the joint request, Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles, interim Liberal Party Leader John Fraser, and Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner, argued that the removal of those parcels of land, as well as the repeal of the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve Act, will shift wealth to property owners and have “detrimental impact on park lands and the local ecosystem.”
The final scope of the auditor general investigation will be determined in the next month or two.
The Ontario integrity commissioner has also said it will be opening an investigation into whether the province’s housing minister tipped off developers ahead of revealing their plans to open up the Greenbelt.
