Ontario's Integrity Commissioner says provincial Housing Minister Steve Clark should be punished for several decisions he made which led to the improper result of which lands in the Greenbelt were selected for development.
On Wednesday, Integrity Commissioner J. David Wake released a 166-page report detailing how Clark violated two sections of the Members’ Integrity Act (Conflict of Interest and Insider Information) by failing to properly supervise his chief of staff, Ryan Amato, who resigned last week, when he chose protected lands for development at the influence of prominent land developers.
Wake found that Clark "misinterpreted" the mandate letter he was provided from Premier Doug Ford with a to-do list relating to the Greenbelt, with respect to what was expected and by when, leading Amato to make hasty, undirected decisions.
"This process was unfair to those landowners who had an interest in seeing their lands removed and who were unaware of the potential change to the government’s Greenbelt policy," read a statement on the integrity commissioner's website.
"Since supervision of staff is incumbent on the minister, Minister Clark’s lack of oversight led to some developers being alerted to a potential change in the government’s position on the Greenbelt, resulting in their private interests being furthered improperly. Minister Clark did not question or properly oversee Mr. Amato’s selection process before the matter was presented to cabinet."
Wake noted that Clark also made the decision to withdraw from supervising such a highly significant initiative, leaving it to a newly appointed chief of staff who had never served on a project of such a capacity before. He also said Clark chose to take the proposal to cabinet without questioning Amato or the deputy minister about how the properties had been selected for removal or redesignation.
"Minister Clark has publicly acknowledged that there were problems with the process used to remove lands from the Greenbelt but has not expressed any remorse for his own role in this affair," Wake said in his report. "I believed Minister Clark when he told me that he was unaware of that process. That belief is consistent with the totality of the evidence gathered in this inquiry."
Wake concluded that Clark's lack of oversight entrusted to his ministry into the undertaking of choosing what Greenbelt lands to build 50,000 homes on is what led to a series of unfortunate results detailed in the report.
The analysis from Wake comes less than a month after Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk released a damning report into the government's dealings with land developers saying the process "cannot be described as a standard or defensible."
Wake received evidence from 61 witnesses including Minister Clark for the inquiry. He has since recommended that Clark be reprimanded for failing to comply with the Members' Integrity Act.
NDP Leader Marit Stiles issued a statement following the release of the report referring to Wake's findings as a "disturbing pattern of corruption from Ford's government."
"With each new piece of information, we’re seeing how far up this corruption goes," Stiles said. "Ontarians deserve nothing less than full accountability from this Minister who used his public position to benefit select few ultra-wealthy developers. Ford must demand his resignation instead of protecting his minister."
-With files from Craig Needles