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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
  • Oct/31/23 10:30:00 a.m.

Speaker, my question is for the Premier. Yesterday, newly uncovered documents provided even more evidence that it was Conservative political staff, not civil service experts, who directed changes to municipal official plans that favoured very specific land speculators in Niagara, Hamilton, Halton, Waterloo, Peel, York and Durham regions.

It’s clearer than ever that the Premier was looped into decisions regarding urban boundary changes from the start. So I have to ask the Premier, were these specific changes made to benefit the Premier’s friends, just like the decision to remove sites from the greenbelt?

These revelations bring the Premier’s and the former minister’s testimony to the Integrity Commissioner into question. Why is there such a discrepancy between the Premier’s testimony to the Integrity Commissioner and what’s revealed in these documents?

Speaker, the Premier told the Integrity Commissioner that he had “no recollection” of meeting developer Sergio Manchia about removing his lands from the greenbelt. The Premier repeated that just this morning, but the documents uncovered yesterday tell a very different story. In fact, they indicate that the Premier did meet with Mr. Manchia on September 20, 2021—with the same Mr. Manchia whose staff members said the Premier “needs to stop calling.”

I’m going to ask again, why is there such a discrepancy between what the Premier testified to the Integrity Commissioner and the revelations in these documents?

234 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
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