Ontario’s opposition parties ask auditor general to investigate Ford government’s Greenbelt plans

Ontario’s three opposition leaders have jointly signed a letter asking Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk to conduct a value-for-money audit and an environmental impact assessment of the Ford government’s decision to open up Greenbelt lands for development.

“Given the strong likelihood of negative impacts on the environment, we are requesting your office investigate the environmental impact of the removal of these Greenbelt lands on agricultural and natural systems,” says the letter signed by incoming NDP leader Marit Stiles, interim Liberal leader John Fraser and Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner.

“Additionally, we are requesting a value-for-money audit investigating how much public wealth has been transferred to property owners and whether these land transactions are in the public interest.”

Late last year, the Ford government revealed that 7,400 acres of land would be removed from the Greenbelt and converted into housing developments. The government is also proposing to add 9,400 acres to different areas, making the overall footprint of the Greenbelt 2,000 acres larger.

At issue is that some developers bought acres of existing Greenbelt land in September, weeks before the government announced its plan to open that property for development.

Related: Ford government could have sold rights to develop greenbelt for millions, experts say

CityNews reported on January 6 that the OPP was looking at requests to investigate the Ford government’s reallocation of Greenbelt land, but had yet to decide whether or not to launch an investigation.

“No one in the Premier’s office or any member of the government has been contacted, and no documents have been requested by OPP on this matter,” a spokesperson for Premier Doug Ford said in a statement to CityNews.

The letter from opposition leaders to the auditor general dated Jan. 11 goes on to say, “Today, we are writing to you together to ask that your office conduct a value-for money audit and an assessment of the financial and environmental impacts of the government’s decision to remove lands from the Greenbelt and repeal the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve Act. The removal of protections from these lands has instantly shifted wealth to property owners, who have likely benefited substantially from the rezoning of this land from undevelopable agricultural land to developable land.”

The Ford government has previously denied any wrongdoing on this issue and says the move to allow development is necessary to reach its goal of building 1.5 million homes over the next 10 years.