Opposition leaders competing with Doug Ford's Progressive Conservative Party have turned their sights back to the Greenbelt scandal, weeks before a provincial election. The renewed attention comes after new allegations laid out in a $2.2-million lawsuit that suggests two former government staffers — Ryan Amato, the “driving force” behind the Greenbelt land swap scandal, and Shiv Raj, a Ford aide — leveraged political connections to secure rezoning approvals in exchange for payments from a developer.
The lawsuit, filed by Oakville property owner Amanpreet Jakhar and two numbered companies, claims that Amato and Raj, along with developer Frontier Group, promised to fast-track rezoning for three properties but failed to deliver despite receiving $1.5 million. The document was first obtained by local news outlet The Trillium.
According to The Trillium, Amato and Raj deny the allegations, calling them “false and baseless.” The claims have not been proven in court.
Opposition leaders say the allegations expose “deeper corruption” within Ford’s government, insisting he must be held accountable for the culture that allowed such dealings to take place.
“We learned that his [Doug Ford] staff are accused of literally selling off the Greenbelt through illegal lobbying while being paid by taxpayers,” said Ontario Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie at an election campaign event on Thursday in Scarborough. “It’s outrageous. The buck stops with Doug Ford.”
Crombie accused Ford of trying to give the Greenbelt away to wealthy friends and allies, pointing to the ongoing RCMP investigation into his government.
“We know that’s why we’re in an early election costing us $189 million — because he’s trying to run away from an RCMP investigation and cling to power a little longer,” Crombie said. “He’s responsible for the behaviour of his team and his staff.”
An email response from Ford's office said the Progressive Conservative leader is unaware of the lawsuit and the province has no involvement in it, nor has it ever considered any changes to the properties owned by the developers involved in the lawsuit.
In December 2022, the Ford government removed 7,400 acres from the Greenbelt for housing development, as part of its plan to build 1.5 million homes over the next decade. After public backlash and critical reports from the Auditor General and integrity commissioner, Ford reversed the decision. The Auditor General found that certain developers with ties to then-Housing Minister Steve Clark’s chief of staff, Ryan Amato, received preferential treatment, though Amato was not named in the report. Both Ford and Clark claimed they were unaware of Amato’s role in selecting the lands. The RCMP has since launched a criminal investigation into the $8.3-billion Greenbelt land swap. Clark and Amato both resigned amid the scandal.
Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles described the revelations as confirmation of long-standing concerns about “corruption” within Ford’s government, accusing him of enabling backroom deals and fostering a culture of “cash-for-access to sell off our province for bags of cash.”
“The rot starts at the top, and this scandal goes all the way up to Doug Ford,” Stiles said in a statement sent to Canada's National Observer. “This is why he called an early election, he wanted to escape his record and outrun the RCMP criminal investigation into his team.”
“As premier, I will clean up corruption and end the culture of backroom deals and cash-for-access,” she said.
At a campaign event in Kitchener, Ford denied any knowledge of the allegations. “I don't know anything about this, and I don’t get involved in outside stuff like that,” he said. When asked whether he or anyone in his office had been interviewed by the RCMP regarding the Greenbelt investigation, Ford responded, “I haven’t. I don’t go around asking people in our office. That’s up to them.” He maintained that his government had done nothing wrong and was cooperating fully with investigators.
Abdullah Mir, a member of Stop Sprawl Durham, the advocacy group that fought Ford’s Greenbelt decision, says these allegations, if true, are disappointing and indicative of the government prioritizing special interests over the public good.
“The purpose of the government should be to protect, preserve and promote the interests of regular people, not offer special favours to special interests in our province," Mir said. "Land use planning under the Ford government has left a lot to be desired. Certainly, we saw some evidence of improper actions being taken by the government and its associates during the whole Greenbelt scandal.”
Land use planning should be transparent and should be done with sustainability and responsible practices in mind, both environmentally and financially, Mir added.
Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said the Ford government’s actions are the reason it is under RCMP investigation for the Greenbelt scandal.
"Ontarians deserve to know the truth about what happened and who stood to benefit," Schreiner said. "While Doug Ford is trying to use this early election to distract us, Ontario Greens are working hard to build an Ontario that puts people before speculator profits."
Environmental advocate Kevin Thomason told Canada’s National Observer the allegations align with past concerns about the Ford government’s approach to land-use decisions.
“The public is outraged by the approach, the lack of transparency, the lack of studies, lack of research, and lack of financial accounting for major projects of this government,” Thomason said. “No one could explain how the Greenbelt takeouts were all magically owned by well-connected developers.”
Comments
RCMP should widen their investigation into the Greenbelt scandal to include all rezoning approvals while Clark was Housing Minister (and despite resigning in disgrace he was soon welcomed back by Ford in another position)