This article originally appeared on The Trillium, a Village Media website devoted exclusively to covering provincial politics at Queen’s Park.
After losing two cabinet ministers, one staffer and untold points in the polls, Premier Doug Ford walked back all of his Greenbelt land removals on Thursday and promised — again — not to touch the protected area.
Speaking at a news conference in Niagara Falls, the premier said he was “very sorry,” and acknowledged the firestorm of public opinion that has surrounded the scandal.
The land removals, their fallout and how they came about has been the main Ontario news story for months. At times the controversy has felt all-consuming, but until Thursday, Ford showed no signs of budging.
Ford maintained that he opened up the Greenbelt with “the best of intentions” — to build more housing in a province that desperately needs it.
But still, he said, it was wrong.
Ontario’s integrity commissioner found the process for selecting the land to be removed was heavily biased toward those with direct access to former housing minister Steve Clark’s chief of staff, and that Clark himself broke the law by failing to properly oversee it.
That report, and the auditor general's before it, cost Clark his job. He remains a PC MPP. His former chief of staff, Ryan Amato, resigned, about a week before the integrity commissioner's report.
While responding to a question on whether developers owning land that’ll be re-protected against development will receive any compensation, Ford said his new Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Paul Calandra “is working through those details.” He also said developers will have to decide themselves whether they want to take legal action against the government.
The government will continue with its review of the two-million acre protected area, which is required by law, to “look through the process — but we won’t touch the Greenbelt,” Ford said.
Over the last few weeks, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have been considering launching a criminal investigation into the government’s Greenbelt changes, after being referred responsibility for it by the Ontario Provincial Police.
The opposition parties at Queen’s Park claimed victory on Thursday.
NDP Leader Marit Stiles offered “congratulations to everyone who's been fighting for our vital farmland and green space, who said no cronyism and corruption in government.”
Interim Liberal leader John Fraser said the decision is “a good one,” but that the government owes the public many more answers about the scandal — something Stiles and Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner also raised.
“It’s thanks to the millions of Ontarians who raised their voices – who held rallies, signed petitions, wrote to their MPPs, and talked with friends and family – that we won the fight for our Greenbelt,” Schreiner also said.
—With files from Sneh Duggal
Editor's note: This story and its headline have been altered to correct references to the province's actions regarding the Greenbelt as land removals.
