Ontario’s information and privacy commissioner says Premier Doug Ford’s government broke its legal, record-keeping obligations amid its now-reversed decision to open up parts of the protected Greenbelt lands for housing.
As part of Commissioner Patricia Kosseim’s annual report, she says that a number of freedom-of-information appeals her office received on Greenbelt-related requests revealed concerning systemic issues.
She says in addition to issues previously highlighted by the auditor general around political staff deleting Greenbelt emails and using personal accounts, the government has a “surprising” lack of documentation on such an important decision, and sometimes used code words in communications.
Kosseim says in the report that staffers sometimes referred to the Greenbelt project as “special project,” or “GB,” or “G*,” with references to G* being next to impossible to find.
The RCMP is in the midst of an investigation into the government’s decision to remove 15 parcels of land from the Greenbelt to remove 50,000 homes — a process the auditor general and integrity commissioner have found favoured certain developers.
Premier Doug Ford’s office says the government has taken several steps to strengthen record-keeping practices and will continue to comply with legal obligations.
