QUEEN’S PARK – Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles called for the immediate resignation of the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing after the Auditor General’s special report showed disturbing evidence of corruption, collusion, and fiscal irresponsibility. This report comes after requests from Stiles.
“Let’s call this what it is: corruption. Ontarians deserve better than a government that enriches a select number of party donors at the expense of hard-working Ontarians,” said Stiles, after noting that the Ford government’s Greenbelt transferred $8.3 billion over to donors and developers.
“This is not about Mr. Ford, this is not about politics, this is about reinstating Ontarians’ trust in their government. Trust that this government has seriously eroded with their insider dealings and culture of corruption that goes all the way up to the Premier.”
Stiles was joined by NDP’s Finance critic Catherine Fife (Waterloo) who sounded the alarm on the government’s fiscal irresponsibility as outlined in the report.
“This is a shameful abdication of the government’s responsibility to its people, especially fiscal responsibility. The Premier’s decision to rubber stamp an $8.3 billion transfer of wealth to the pockets of private donors and developers shows a disturbing lack of respect for Ontario’s taxpayers,” said Fife.
“This government already sold municipalities short by taking away developer fees, now they’re leaving taxpayers and municipalities to foot the bill for their billion-dollar developer scheme by selecting land sites without assessing serviceability costs” added Fife.
Sandy Shaw (Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas), the official opposition critic for Environment, pointed out the environmental and agricultural harms of this scheme.
“Ford called the Greenbelt a scam, but it is the people of Ontario who are getting scammed, to the tune of $8.3 billion. We can’t forget that this was done without consulting Ontarians, without any engagement with First Nations, and all done in Conservative backrooms and private dinner parties.”
Stiles and the Ontario NDP are calling to immediately remove Minister Steve Clark from Cabinet. Following the resignation, the Ontario NDP are calling to:
- Immediately recall the Legislature, to reverse course, and return these lands to the Greenbelt and cancel these deals with developers.
- And that this Conservative government not stand in the way of the Integrity Commissioner’s investigation, including any potential criminal investigations – because we know this is just beginning and the public deserve and to know everything