Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner is calling for a full, independent public inquiry into Greenbelt land removals.
A report this month from the auditor general found that developers who owned 15 sites of land that the Progressive Conservative government removed from the protected Greenbelt area last year now stand to see those properties rise in value by $8.3 billion.
The auditor general found that developers who had access to Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark's chief of staff wound up with 92 per cent of the land that was removed from the Greenbelt for housing. Schreiner says the report answered some questions, but raised even more and that's why a full public inquiry is needed.
He says Ontarians deserve to know how "wealthy insiders could hand over an envelope that led to government policy decisions with windfall profits of $8.3 billion going to a handful of wealthy elite speculators." Clark's chief of staff resigned this week, but Schreiner says if Premier Doug Ford believes that's the end of the scandal he's wrong because there is much more to be done to restore public trust.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Ontario Green Party leader calls for public inquiry into Greenbelt land removalsTORONTO — Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner is calling for a full, independent public inquiry into Greenbelt land removals.
Read more »
Ontario Green Party leader calls for public inquiry into Greenbelt land removalsOntario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner is calling for a full, independent public inquiry into Greenbelt land removals.
Read more »
Chief of staff for Ontario housing minister resigns amid Greenbelt reportThe chief of staff for Ontario’s housing minister has resigned following a scathing Greenbelt report that alleges he and the government favoured certain developers when opening up the protected land.
Read more »
Ontario housing minister's chief of staff resigns following Greenbelt controversyHousing Minister Steve Clark's chief of staff has resigned after he was singled out by the Ontario auditor general for playing a key role in the province's controversial Greenbelt land swap.
Read more »
Ontario's Greenbelt, Doug Ford and an explosive auditThere are calls for resignations in Ontario after a scathing auditor general report found that housing developers influenced the controversial decision to open parts of protected Greenbelt land.
Read more »
Ontario government's Greenbelt land swap influenced by well-connected developers, AG findsThe Ontario government's process for choosing protected Greenbelt land to open up for housing development was heavily influenced by a small group of well-connected developers who now stand to make billions of dollars, the province's auditor general says.
Read more »