SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

Marit Stiles

  • MPP
  • Member of Provincial Parliament
  • Davenport
  • New Democratic Party of Ontario
  • Ontario
  • 1199 Bloor St. W Toronto, ON M6H 1N4 MStiles-CO@ndp.on.ca
  • tel: 416-535-3158
  • fax: 416-535-6587
  • MStiles-QP@ndp.on.ca

  • Government Page
  • Sep/27/23 10:30:00 a.m.

Yesterday, this government tried to bob and weave on questions of their integrity, but people still have many questions.

On September 14, 2022, the chief of staff to the housing minister, Ryan Amato, was handed brown envelopes from speculators requesting greenbelt removals at the BILD dinner. The very next day, Amato sought clarity directly from the Premier in a meeting the Premier conveniently “does not recall.” In fact, Ryan Amato texted a colleague that the Premier and his chief of staff were “very serious.” Can the Premier tell us what happened at this meeting?

The people won’t be satisfied with responses like that because one day after that meeting, which the Premier doesn’t recall, Mr. Amato informed the Ministry of Housing that they wished to initiate a site-specific review where three priority sites were identified to be removed from the greenbelt. Two of those sites were in the packages delivered to Mr. Amato at the BILD dinner.

In just three days, this government had moved from criteria-based selection to three site-specific properties accounting for 91% of the land that this government was trying to remove from the greenbelt.

Did the Premier ever discuss site-specific removals with ministers or staff prior to October 2022?

Interjections.

So I want to ask the Premier again: What happened at this meeting on September 15?

Curiously, a request for the Premier’s phone records during the same time period that the decision to carve up the greenbelt was made returned no records—no calls, no texts.

Is the Premier using his personal phone to conduct government business to avoid freedom-of-information requests?

274 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
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