{"id":21411,"date":"2023-08-31T15:46:52","date_gmt":"2023-08-31T22:46:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/ontario-housing-minister-sorry-for-role-in-greenbelt-decisions-refuses-to-step-down\/"},"modified":"2023-08-31T15:46:53","modified_gmt":"2023-08-31T22:46:53","slug":"ontario-housing-minister-sorry-for-role-in-greenbelt-decisions-refuses-to-step-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/ontario-housing-minister-sorry-for-role-in-greenbelt-decisions-refuses-to-step-down\/","title":{"rendered":"Ontario housing minister sorry for role in Greenbelt decisions, refuses to step down"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Housing minister Steve Clark accepted complete responsibility for the flawed process of removing land from the Greenbelt, but he will not be resigning despite calls to do so.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month Ontario Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk released a scathing report on the Doug Ford government\u2019s decision to remove 15 sites from Greenbelt protection and open it up for development.<\/p>\n

In a report released this week (Aug. 30), Integrity Commissioner David Wake determined Clark contravened two sections of the\u00a0Members\u2019 Integrity Act, 1994<\/a> \u201cby failing to oversee the process by which lands in the Greenbelt were selected for development.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wake recommended to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario that Minister Clark be reprimanded for his failure to comply with the Act.<\/p>\n

\u201cI accept that I ought to have had greater oversight over my former chief of staff and over the process and to Ontarians I want to say very sincerely that I apologize that I did not,\u201d said Clark at a press conference held the afternoon of Aug. 31. \u201cI am committed to making sure that the flaws of the kind outlined in the report by Justice Wake do not happen again. That\u2019s why we\u2019ve worked very closely and transparently with the Integrity Commissioner\u2019s Office\u2026And that\u2019s why as a government we are already taking steps to improve the decision-making process moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cAs the Integrity Commissioner also noted, our government\u2019s motivation has always been to build homes including those that came about as result of the changes we made to the Greenbelt.\u201d<\/p>\n

The integrity commissioner\u2019s inquiry looked into the process and found Clark\u2019s Chief of Staff Ryan Amato, who resigned recently, was the \u201cdriving force\u201d behind the lands that were selected to be developed. The report describes the process as \u201crushed\u201d and \u201cflawed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSince supervision of staff is incumbent on the minister, Minister Clark\u2019s lack of oversight led to some developers being alerted to a potential change in the government\u2019s position on the Greenbelt, resulting in their private interests being furthered improperly,\u201d states the report. \u201cMinister Clark did not question or properly oversee Mr. Amato\u2019s selection process before the matter was presented to cabinet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clark acknowledged that changes need to be made to change the process.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe buck stops with me,\u201d said Clark both in a statement after the report was released and at the press conference.<\/p>\n

\u201cI take the recommendations from both the Auditor General and the Integrity Commissioner very seriously. I\u2019ve been very open with Ontarians today in terms of accepting complete responsibility over the process that took place in the Ministry. I am committed as well, and our government is committed, to ensuring that we do better moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

At an unrelated press conference on Aug. 31, Ford was asked repeatedly if Clark would step down in light of the Integrity Commissioners findings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have full confidence in Minister Clark,\u201d said Ford. \u201cI take full responsibility. The buck stops with me\u2026 We understand the process could be better but our goal at the end of the day is to build 1.5 million homes at minimum. We\u2019re going to build them, we\u2019re going to do everything we can, we\u2019re going to use every single tool we can.\u201d<\/p>\n

The full report can be found at Report Re Minister Clark \u2013 August 30, 2023.pdf (oico.on.ca)<\/a><\/p>\n

Follow the author on Twitter @DCN_Angela<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n