Integrity commissioner considering investigation into staffer's role in Greenbelt land swaps

Ontario's integrity commissioner is consideringa request from Premier Doug Ford's government to investigate if the housing minister's chief of staff broke any ethics rules connected to the province's choice ofGreenbelt land to open for development.

A spokesperson for J. David Wake's office said Thursday that if an investigation is launched, it would determine whether political staffer Ryan Amato"acted contrary to the requirements of thePublic Service of Ontario Act, 2006," which include conflict of interest rules.

The request, which was made by Ford's office, is "under review," the spokesperson said.

It comes amidst an explosive report from Ontario's auditor general that concluded the government's December 2022 decisionto open 2,995 hectares of protected Greenbelt land to developmentwas heavily influenced by a small group of politically connected developers.

The auditor general's probe found that Amato, current chief of staff to Housing Minister Steve Clark, spearheaded the selection of land in a manner"that cannot be described as a standard or defensible process." A majority of the sites ultimately removed from the Greenbelt were chosen after specific suggestions from developers to Amato, according to the report.

"The process was biased in favour of certain developers and landowners who hadtimely access to the housing minister's chief of staff," Bonnie Lysyk wrote in her 95-page report.

The work of the province's"Greenbelt Project Team," which Amato headed, was limited to three weeks and"excluded substantive input from land-use planning experts in provincial ministries, municipalities, conservation authorities, First Nations leaders, and the public," the report said. Its members were sworn to confidentiality, it added.

Lysykfound it was Amato whoidentified 21 of the 22 sites the team considered. Ultimately, they settled on 15.

In one instance, according to a timeline of key events in the report, two prominent housing developers approached Amatoin September2022 at a building industry eventand provided him with "packages" containing information on two sites an area in the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve (DRAP) in Pickering and a site in the Township of King that was purchased that very month for $80 million.

AsCBC Toronto reported, Silvio De Gasperis, president of the Tacc Group of companies, owns more than twodozen properties in the DRAP.Michael Rice, CEO of Rice Group,owns the King property. Both De Gasperis and Rice who were not named in the report fought the auditor general'ssummons' to answer questions about the land swaps.

WATCH | Questions about changes to the Greenbelt:

Carving up the Ontario Greenbelt: Was the process rigged? | About That

10 months ago

Duration 11:34

Well-connected developers influenced the Ontario governments decision to open parts of the protected Greenbelt, according to a new auditor general report. Andrew Chang breaks down the scathing findings and questions left unanswered.

Lysyk made 15 total recommendations to the government. Among them was that the government request the integrity commissioner investigate whether Amato"acted contrary to the requirements of the Public Service of Ontario Act, 2006 with respect to his liaisons with land developers and their representatives."

Lysyk said that Amatoand the government fully co-operated with her office's investigation.

At a news conference Wednesday, both Ford and Clark denied they had any knowledge of how Amato and his team were selecting sites for removal from the Greenbelt. When asked whether Amato would keep his job, Clark refused to answer directly.

Ford conceded that the process was flawed and said his government would accept 14 of Lysyk's recommendations. What it would not do, Ford said, is consider her recommendation that the Greenbelt land swaps be reconsidered. Ford said the land will be used to build 50,000 homes desperately needed to help ease the province's housing crisis.

Wake is already conducting a separate investigation related to the Greenbelt land swaps at the request of NDP Leader Marit Stiles. In January, Stiles asked that his office look into the"curious timing" of developers' Greenbelt land purchases and whether they had been tipped off by Clark ahead of the government's announcement. Clark has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.