Local MPP reacts to AG Greenbelt plan report

Lisa Gretzky is reacting to a report from Ontario’s Auditor General that the provincial government’s decision to open up parts of the Greenbelt for housing “favoured certain developers,” lacked transparency and failed to consider environmental, agricultural and financial impacts

In a tweet, the NDP MPP for Windsor West said “It’s going to be hard for the PCs to respond to the report with much credibility... how could the premier and minister not know what’s up?”

The premier has vowed to make changes but speaking to CTV News, Gretzky said the government has broken the trust of Ontarians and added the implications of opening up protected lands "hits close to home.”

"We're talking about the premier opening up prime farmland. Protected land. Protected wetlands and naturalized areas. Opening up land for development where we have species at risk. We have those things here in Windsor as well. We have that with Ojibway. We have that with South Cameron Woodlot, which we've already seen the government say they would open up for development. When you look at what the premier is doing around the Greenbelt, we need to be concerned here that he's going to do the same," said Gretzky. 

CTV News has reached out to Andrew Dowie and Anthony Leardi for comment but haven’t heard back

Of the 7,400 acres of land removed from the Greenbelt, the report found that 92 per cent could be tied to three developers with direct access to the housing ministry.

In a statement to CTV News, Gretzky wrote, “Food bank lines in Windsor are getting longer and poverty rates skyrocketing. People are living paycheck to paycheck. For so many people, the fear of becoming homeless is getting all the more real. But we have a government that is more concerned with putting together a carnival in hopes of charming them into amnesia after a bombshell of a report from the Ontario Auditor General’s office. Yesterday’s report made it clear that there is blatant corruption taking place in the Conservative Caucus. In light of the real issues at play, I’m calling on Doug Ford and the Conservatives to cancel Ford Fest and return to the legislature to immediately return the Greenbelt to Ontarians, and deal with the housing and affordability crisis in a meaningful way.”

The report also found that 14 of the 15 sites were proposed directly by Housing Minister Steve Clark’s Chief of Staff Ryan Amato.

The premier said he would be adopting 14 of the 15 recommendations within the auditor general’s report. When asked by CTV News Toronto, he clarified that the one recommendation his government will not be implementing is the re-evaluation of the land removal from the Greenbelt.

There are investigations underway by the integrity commissioner and Ontario Provincial Police.

— With files from CTV News Toronto