Ontario NDP submits fresh evidence to integrity commissioner in Greenbelt investigation
Global News
In a two-part letter, Ontario NDP incoming leader Marit Stiles raised concerns about a meeting involving a town in York Region, a developer and a local hospital.
The incoming leader of the Ontario NDP has submitted fresh evidence to Ontario’s integrity commissioner over the Ford government’s controversial decision to open portions of the Greenbelt for housing development.
The latest allegations claim that at least one developer, who purchased a swath of land in King Township in September 2022, may have had advance knowledge of the government’s plans to remove the property from the Greenbelt — a decision that was announced by the government in November.
Premier Doug Ford and Housing Minister Steve Clark have faced questions from environmental advocates and political critics about potential insider trading of confidential government information, which has sparked an integrity commissioner ethics investigation into Clark.
The government has strongly denied that any of the developers who purchased 15 parcels of land being removed from the Greenbelt was given a heads-up about the decision before it was made public.
In a two-part letter, Ontario NDP incoming leader Marit Stiles raised concerns about a meeting involving a town in York Region, a developer and a local hospital.
The meeting, Stiles alleges, involved a development company — the Rice Group — and officials from King Township and Southlake Health Network on Nov. 1 to discuss Greenbelt land that was recently purchased by the Rice group.
“King Township wrote ‘the commitment of a nominal fee for the hospital lands was conveyed verbally to Mayor Pellegrini during an in-person meeting with Rice Group and Southlake Representatives on November 1, 2022,'” Stiles’ letter said.
Three days later, Ontario announced it was removing the land from its protected status to allow for homes in the province to be built faster.