RCMP interviewing government witnesses for Greenbelt probe

The RCMP is interviewing government officials as part of its criminal investigation into Ontario Premier Doug Ford's shuttered plan to open up protected Greenbelt land for development, the province confirmed Friday.

In a statement, provincial spokesperson Grace Lee said the province had always said it would cooperate with the police investigation.

"That cooperation would include the premier and current or former staff conducting interviews as witnesses, which are currently underway," Grace said.

Ford has not currently been asked by police to be interviewed, provincial officials say.

The province's statement comes after a Toronto Star story about the issue was published Friday.

The RCMP's criminal probe was launched after the province removed land from the Greenbelt in 2022 as part of its broader push to build 1.5 million homes by 2031. Last year, Ford walked back his plan to remove large swaths of land from the protected lands following weeks of public pressure and the resignation of two ministers. He apologized for the land swap and said the lands would all be returned to the Greenbelt.

Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie called it "a sad day for the people of Ontario,who deserve and need so much more than a government embroiled in criminal investigation" ina statement Friday.

"The people of this province need to know exactly how Doug Ford was involved in this scandal," she said.

Prior to the reversal, two legislative watchdogs examining the government's land swap found the process to select which lands were removed from the Greenbelt was flawed and favoured certain developers.

The province's integrity commissioner, J. David Wake, found Steve Clark, Ford's housing minister at the time, violated ethics rules. Clark resigned from cabinet shortly after a commissioner's report on the issue was released.

In a separate report, Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk found developers stood to see their land value increase by $8.3 billion because of the land swap.

Ford has previously said he is confident nothing criminal took place.

Speaking at an unrelated news conference in Thunder Bay Friday afternoon, Ford said his government has "nothing to hide."

"Come in, do whatever you have to do, and eventually we're moving on, but I want full cooperation," Ford said.