Integrity Commissioner Finds Ontario Housing Minister Violated Ethics Rules in Greenbelt Land Swap

Ontario’s integrity commissioner has concluded Steve Clark, the province’s minister of municipal affairs and housing, violated the Integrity Act in deciding which land should be removed from the protected Greenbelt Plan, and recommended he be reprimanded.

“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,” Integrity Commissioner J. David Wake wrote in an Aug. 30 statement.

Mr. Wake found that Mr. Clark breached ethics rules by failing to oversee the land selection process, which allowed private developers to further their business interests, according to a 166-page report filed Aug. 30 in the Legislature, as first reported by CBC News. The developers stand to profit in the order of $8 billion dollars.

“I have recommended to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario that Minister Clark be reprimanded for his failure to comply with the Act,” Mr. Wake said.

In December 2022, Ontario amended the Greenbelt Plan boundary created in 2005 to protect some of Canada’s most productive farmland, and removed or redesignated 7,400 acres across 15 sites to build 50,000 homes. Subsequently, the opposition filed a complaint with the integrity commissioner’s office.

Mr. Wake’s report establishes that Mr. Clark’s former chief of staff, Ryan Amato, was involved in the selection of 14 of the 15 properties removed from the Greenbelt, providing an “advantage” to developers who had previously approached the senior staff.

The ethics commissioner said Mr. Amato came into the ministry position “untrained and unsupervised” from his post as director of stakeholder relations in the Transportation Ministry. Mr. Wake reviewed evidence from Mr. Clark and 61 other witnesses, and thousands of pages of emails, documents, maps, and text messages, the report indicates.

“The evidence paints a picture of a process marked by misinterpretation, unnecessary hastiness and deception,” wrote Mr. Wake.

“It shows that Mr. Amato advised Minister Clark to ‘leave it with me’ as he embarked on a chaotic and almost reckless process that I find led to an uninformed and opaque decision which resulted in the creation of an opportunity to further the private interests of some developers improperly.”

The commissioner said that Mr. Amato asked certain developers to send him more information, and they “seized the opportunity” to influence him. Mr. Wake found Mr. Amato “was operating largely alone and undirected.”

Auditor General Report

Mr. Amato resigned on Aug. 22, after Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk released a report in August that said some developers received preferential treatment. The former staffer denied any wrongdoing.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s office issued a memo in mid-August announcing the creation of a working group to implement most of the recommendations contained in a report on the protected Greenbelt written by Ms. Lysyk.

The memo also reminded senior government staff that they must follow “rules regarding conflict of interest and political activity.”

In her report, the auditor general stated the selection of sites, which took place rapidly over a three-week period, was “not transparent, objective, or fully informed.”

Commissioner Wake came to similar conclusions, placing responsibility on Mr. Clark. The commissioner said it was “incumbent on the minister… to supervise his staff.” He said that under the Integrity Act, undue carelessness or inattention do not remove accountability to oversee important policies or decisions arising out of their office.

The commissioner said the minister misinterpreted his mandate’s timing for Greenbelt land removal, leading to a “rushed process with unfortunate results.”

Furthermore, according to Mr. Wake, the minister withdrew from supervision and directed “this highly



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