Earlier this week, Ontario’s auditor general released a damning report into the Ford Government’s decision to open up parts of Ontario’s Greenbelt for housing — saying the decision lacked transparency while also failing to consider environmental, agricultural and financial impacts.
Of the 30 square kilometres of land removed from the Greenbelt, the report says 92 per cent could be tied to three developers with direct access to the housing ministry.
On Thursday, Bonnie Lysyk spoke CTV News Channel in a one-on-one interview to discuss some of her key findings from the “Special Report on Changes to the Greenbelt.”
A DECISION ‘WORTH REVISITING’
The auditor general says the report aimed to provide information that the public “wanted to know” about how Greenbelt land was selected for removal.
“You know that the lands were removed through a process that is… inappropriate,” Lysyk told Marcia MacMillan on Thursday. “It stems to reason that it’s worthy of a relook.”
Lysyk warned acceptance of “a process that is so flawed” means that it’s more likely that a similar exercise could take place in the future.
DOUG FORD’S ROLE IN DECISION
Ontario Premier Doug Ford says that he did not know which sites would be selected until shortly before the announcement, promising his government would adopt 14 of the 15 recommendations within the auditor general’s report.
Lysyk sat down with Ford and says that she asked him “very directly” if he had information what would be opened to development, or if he asked anyone to “submit information” on the land.
“In both cases, I received the answer, ‘No.'”
WHY NO CHARGES?
Amid calls for more investigation, accountability or even charges, Lysyk was asked why she stopped short of making that recommendation when pressed by reporters at Wednesday’s press conference, but she says it’s a decision that’s up to the intergrety commissioner.
“We made our recommendations,” Lysyk says. “If they want to talk to us, we’ll be talking to them.”
Click the video at the top of this article for the full interview and more takeaways from Bonnie Lysyk, including advice for her successor as auditor general.
With files from CTV News Toronto’s Katherine DeClerq