Point of order, Speaker: I’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate the newly acclaimed executive officers of the Ontario Federation of Labour. Congratulations to Team Ignite: incoming president Laura Walton, secretary-treasurer Ahmad Gaied and executive vice-president Jackie Taylor. They are the new executive officers of the Ontario Federation of Labour. Congratulations.

Good morning. It’s my pleasure to welcome to the chamber this morning David Gale, president of ACTRA Toronto, and Alistair Hepburn, executive director of ACTRA Toronto. ACTRA Toronto is the largest organization of cultural workers in Canada. Welcome to your House.

Will the Premier finally tell all Ontarians the full extent of his involvement in the greenbelt scandal, or do we have to wait for the RCMP to finish their criminal investigation?

Speaker, that answer is not going to cut it because this is not happening in a vacuum. This is a land grab happening at the same time as this government was carving up the greenbelt.

Let’s look at Barrie. The government actually reduced density targets for new developments in Barrie. That means higher infrastructure costs for people in Barrie and more sprawl. But guess what? It’s bigger bucks for a select few land speculators. The government’s memo warned that these changes would make it harder for the city to meet its own housing targets.

Speaker, to the Premier: If this was actually about housing, why is his government pursuing policies that will make it even harder for future generations to find a home?

Speaker, the memo also covers this government’s 2,300 hectares of forced sprawl in Waterloo region, throwing out all of the consultation and the planning work that the region had already done. The government’s own internal memo warned against this, and it said that third-party requests were prioritized over evidence-based solutions by expert planners. This government knew this was wrong; they knew it.

Back to the Premier: Why did his government proceed with this plan for forced boundary changes, and who made these third-party requests?

Interjections.

The Premier says he will supposedly reverse this greenbelt grab, so will he also reverse the changes to York’s official plan?

Interesting, because guess who that benefits? Guess who that benefits? Another speculator with ties to the Premier and to his party.

Speaker, the Integrity Commissioner revealed evidence suggesting—

Interjections.

Because guess who those changes benefit? Another speculator with ties to this Premier and his party.

Speaker, the Integrity Commissioner revealed evidence suggesting Michael Rice asked for a parcel of land in Richmond Hill to be removed from the greenbelt—land he didn’t yet own. But Mr. Rice seemed to know that this government was planning to open up this land for speculators, so he made a deal to buy the land at a rock-bottom price, and then this government changed the boundaries to include his property, driving its value up dramatically.

Did the Premier and did this government give preferential treatment to Mr. Rice?

Interjections.