More Calls for Housing Minister to Resign

NDP MPP Jeff Burch says Steve Clark should resign as Housing Minister, over the findings from the auditor general's Greenbelt probe

Niagara Centre MPP Jeff Burch is once again urging Housing Minister Steve Clark to resign from cabinet. 

Burch says Clark's chief of staff was not the only member of his team who had a hand in development plans for the Greenbelt, and it's hard to believe Clark wasn't aware of what was going on. 

"The fact that a second Clark staff member was selecting Greenbelt sites to hand over to developers makes it even more incredulous that the Minister was unaware of what was going on in his own office," Burch said. "Who was this staffer that had a role in carving up five parcels of the Greenbelt? What was their role? We need more information about who was involved in this important matter of public interest."

Earlier this month, Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk released the results of her probe into the Greenbelt land swap, saying developers who bought protected land were connected to housing minister chief of staff Ryan Amato, who stepped down this week. 

The report notes 13 Greenbelt sites for removal came from Amato, five came from another Clark staffer, and one was from the Greenbelt project team. 

We reached out to Clark's office, and received the following statement: 

“As was communicated to the Auditor General, the deputy chief of staff was not involved in any decision-making related to the changes to the Greenbelt.

As part of the standard, legislated official plan review and amendment process, the ministry received public submissions, including some requests for removal of lands from the Greenbelt, through the Environmental Registry of Ontario. These requests cannot be and were not considered part of the official plan process; instead, they were redirected to the non-partisan public servants working on the Greenbelt amendments.

The government has accepted all 14 recommendations made in the report related to process and is working to implement these recommendations without delay.”

We have also reached out to the Auditor General for further comment.