“(Newly-surfaced) e-mail shows that the Premier’s office was far more involved in the Greenbelt land removals than Mr. Ford claimed.” – Marit Stiles, Leader of Ontario’s Official Opposition Party
A News Release from Ontario’s NDP Official Opposition Party
Posted January 22nd, 2024 on Niagara At Large
(A brief introductory note from Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper – The news release posted here outlines some of the latest revelations swirling around alleged efforts by Ontario’s Ford government and its friends in the development industry to collude in carving up and forever destroying some of the province’s most precious food-growing lands in a protected Greenbelt wrapping around Lake Ontario from Niagara to rural areas north of the lake for urban sprawl. The affair was first outlined in a detailed Ontario Auditor General’s report and is now the subject of an ongoing Ontario Provincial Police investigation.)
QUEEN’S PARK – Ontario NDP has revealed new evidence showing further involvement from the Premier’s Office in the Greenbelt scandal.
Emails obtained in response to a Freedom of Information request suggest a timeline that is inconsistent with the testimonies provided by Ryan Amato and Patrick Sackville (senior Doug Ford government staff members) under oath, and that the Premier’s office knew about the land swaps much earlier than they claimed.
Official Opposition NDP Leader Marit Stiles is calling for the Premier to start being transparent with Ontarians about what really happened.
“This e-mail shows that the Premier’s office was far more involved in the Greenbelt land removals than Mr. Ford claimed. The Conservatives are trying desperately to make this scandal go away, but it is becoming increasingly clear that they cannot hide from their corruption.” says Stiles.
Ontario NDP Official Opposition Leader Marit Stiles
“With each new piece of evidence, we are seeing more cracks in the narrative that the Premier and his insiders have been trying to spin. But the truth is becoming clearer every day – Mr. Ford was not in the dark about his government’s corrupt Greenbelt decisions.
“It’s time for the Conservatives to come clean about how they deceived Ontarians with this Greenbelt fiasco. If they don’t, I’m confident the RCMP will.”
QUICK FACTS:
* Patrick Sackville (former principal secretary and current chief of staff to the Premier) and Ryan Amato (former chief of staff to the former Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing) exchanged information including “list of criteria for removals” of 7,400 acres of the Greenbelt
* These emails were exchanged 10 days before the dates that Amato and Sackville provided to the Office of the Integrity Commissioner in a testimony made under oath
Niagara citizens gather at Regional Headquarters in late 2022 at an inaugural meeting of the Region’s council to urge councillors to join them in their fight to stop the Ford government from destroying food-growing lands in a Greenbelt which includes large tracts of land in Niagara. l Photo by Doug Draper
* Amato and Sackville used their personal emails to exchange information about public policy instead of their government emails
* Using personal email for conducting government business does not exempt one (https://www.auditor.on.ca/en/content/specialreports/specialreports/Greenbelt_en.pdf) from the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, as outlined in the Auditor General’s special report on the Greenbelt land removals which saw recurring use of personal emails by government staff
To read a January 22nd, 2024 story on this issue, click on – file:///C:/Users/owner/Desktop/Email%20challenges%20timeline%20on%20Greenbelt%20land%20swap%20details.pdf
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