A former aide to Premier Doug Ford “failed to comply” with lobbying rules when trying to get a client’s land removed from the Greenbelt, says Ontario’s ethics watchdog.
Integrity commissioner J. David Wake, whose 2023 report on the $8.28-billion Greenbelt land swap scandal triggered the ongoing RCMP investigation, found Nico Fidani-Diker repeatedly “contravened” provincial law.
“In 2022, Mr. Fidani-Diker failed to comply with the Lobbyists Registration Act, 1998, by failing to file a registration after lobbying a public office holder with respect to requesting that a client’s lands be removed from the Greenbelt Area,” Wake wrote Monday.
“In the course of his work for this same client, Mr. Fidani-Diker also contravened the Act by knowingly placing two public office holders in a position of real or potential conflict of interest by offering them a gift of tickets to a Toronto Maple Leafs hockey game,” the integrity commissioner wrote.
“In 2023, Mr. Fidani-Diker, with respect to a registration he filed on behalf of another client, contravened the Act by failing to provide particulars to identify the regulation change he was seeking on behalf of another client,” he continued.
“This client was seeking a Minister’s Zoning Order, which is a regulation, to increase the permitted building height and density on its property.”
Wake did not name the politicians or the clients.
But other than a slap on the wrist, Fidani-Diker, who left Ford’s office three years ago, faces no sanctions and can continue to lobby the government.
“No person is prohibited from lobbying at this time,” said Wake.
The integrity commissioner is also conducting a probe into the lobbying activities of Amin Massoudi, Ford’s former principal secretary and a close friend of the premier.
In a statement to the Star, Fidani-Diker said he accepted “full responsibility for his decisions and findings regarding my initial months as a registered lobbyist, when setting up my company three years ago.”
“It was never my intent to be in non-compliance while lobbying. These oversights were mine and mine alone,” said the former executive assistant to Ford.
“I thank the integrity commissioner for bringing closure to this matter and for his recognition that no further action from his office is necessary,” said Fidani-Diker, now a principal at ONpoint Strategy Group.
For its part, Ford’s office said “we have not been engaged in this matter and have no details beyond what the integrity commissioner has reported.”
“We expect that anyone engaging with or advocating to the government complies with all rules and regulations as set out in legislation,” said Grace Lee, the premier’s director of media relations.
Wake’s report, which was sparked by a complaint from the opposition New Democrats, chided Fidani-Diker for “knowingly placing a public office holder in a position of real or potential conflict of interest in the course of lobbying him on behalf of another client.”
“Mr. Fidani-Diker had a prior close working relationship, had recently engaged in significant political work with this public office holder, and had a friendship with this public office holder,” said the ethics commissioner.
“In 2022-23, Mr. Fidani-Diker also contravened the Act by knowingly placing a public office holder in a position of real or potential conflict of interest in the course of lobbying him on behalf of another client,” wrote Wake.
“Mr. Fidani-Diker had a long history of a close relationship with this public office holder, including significant personal, work and political connections,” he said.
“In 2022, Mr. Fidani-Diker, with respect to a registration he filed on behalf of another client, contravened the Act by failing to provide particulars to identify the regulation change he was seeking on behalf of another client. This client was also seeking the removal of their lands from Greenbelt area.”
NDP Leader Marit Stiles said Wake’s findings were “a scathing indictment of the culture of cash-for-access and preferential treatment that continues to plague the premier’s office.”
“It’s clear that PC insiders are breaking the law, and they simply don’t care,” said Stiles.
Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie said the report shows “all roads lead to the premier’s office” in the Greenbelt debacle.
“What we’re seeing here is one of the dominoes has fallen and I expect that … the integrity commissioner or the RCMP investigation will lead to more of those dominoes falling,” said Crombie.
Green Leader Mike Schreiner said “today’s news once again proves what we already knew: Doug Ford clearly can’t be trusted with the Greenbelt.”
A joint Star and Narwhal investigation in 2022 found a majority of the Greenbelt areas slated for redevelopment had been bought up by developers when the land was still protected.
Of the 15 parcels of land initially rezoned — totalling 7,400 acres of the two-million-acre Greenbelt around the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area — eight were purchased in the four years after Ford took power in 2018.
In August 2023, Wake and then auditor general Bonnie Lysyk each released damning reports revealing developers with ties to the Tories were “favoured” in the process.
The next month, a contrite Ford, who has always denied any wrongdoing, cancelled the land swap and vowed to keep intact the Greenbelt.
“It was a mistake to open the Greenbelt,” the premier said in Niagara Falls on Sept. 21, 2023.
“I’m very, very sorry. I made a promise to you that I wouldn’t touch the Greenbelt. I broke that promise,” Ford said at the time.
“As a first step to earning back your trust, I’ll be reversing the changes. We moved too quickly and we made the wrong decision … it caused people to question our motives.”
At least a dozen current and former Ford aides have been interviewed by the Mounties for their criminal investigation.
