Auditor general to release probe on Ontario’s opening up of Greenbelt to development

Ontario’s auditor general is set to release her investigation into the province’s decision to open up protected Greenbelt land for development on Wednesday.

The value-for-money audit was first launched in January after a joint request from all three of the province’s opposition leaders.

Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk will present the report publicly around 11 a.m. A few hours later, Premier Doug Ford and Housing Minister Steve Clark will hold a media availability.

Both news conferences will be streamed live on CTVNewsToronto.ca.

This all began in November 2022, when the Progressive Conservative government announced it would be removing 7,400 acres from the Greenbelt for development, while adding 9,400 acres of protected land elsewhere.

The government had promised years prior not to touch the protected land, but argued it was necessary as part of its pledge to build 1.5 million homes in 10 years.

The goal was to build at least 50,000 homes on the Greenbelt land, with construction beginning no later than 2025.

However it was soon revealed that several large developers have purchased Greenbelt land since the Ford government was first elected in 2018 before the announcement had been made. At least one investment was made in September 2022, a month before the government revealed the land was among 15 sites being opened up for development.

Opposition leaders and advocacy groups have claimed that developers were tipped off and given advanced notice of the government’s plans.

Premier Doug Ford has repeatedly said that he did not know which sites would be opened until shortly before the announcement.

In their requests to the auditor general, 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 audit set to be released today will review the financial and environmental impacts of the decision. It will not explore allwhether Clark tipped off developers ahead of time – which could be a potential contravention of the Members Integrity’s Act. This will be under the purview of the province’s integrity commissioner, who has also opened up an investigation into the Greenbelt decision-making.