The Greenbelt Scandal Investigation

[continued from Political Missteps, and Broken Promises: How Ontario’s Greenbelt is Safe Again]

We previously discussed Doug Ford's Greenbelt scandal. There was mention of an investigation headed by the RCMP. On Tuesday, October 10th, RCMP Cpl. Christy Veenstra confirmed that RCMP O Division’s Sensitive and Internal Investigations Unit (SII) would be conducting an investigation into the provincial governments decisions and conduct regarding the - now terminated - Greenbelt development. 

So what is the SII unit and what are they going to do about this scandal? The SII unit is specialised within the RCMP, focusing on investigations involving elected officials and their alleged crimes, such as fraud, corruption, breach of trust, and, namely, financial misconduct. In this case, the SII unit launched a criminal probe against the Ford government to determine if there were illegal aspects to the scandal. However, due to the ongoing and sensitive nature of the investigation the RCMP has not yet divulged much information regarding what specifically they’re looking at. Although, in a report from Ontario’s auditor general not connected to the investigation, developers involved in the scandal were said to have stood to see their land increase by approximately $8.3 billion in valuation. With most of this increase going to only two developers who were close with former administration staffer Ryan Amato. Based on this report, we can make educated guesses as to what, and who, the SII unit may be looking into. 

As Doug Ford's government scrambles to recover from the Greenbelt scandal they remain fully cooperative with law enforcement, stating, "We have zero tolerance for any wrongdoing and expect anyone involved in the decision-making about the Greenbelt lands to have followed the letter of the law,”. It remains to be seen what the RCMP will turn up but the public and opposition parties remain sceptical of the provincial government, with John Fraser, interim leader of the Ontario Liberals, saying that, ​"All roads lead to the Premier's office. There is no way that in a scandal of this size, one rookie chief of staff was the mastermind behind it."

We will keep following the situation, providing updates on both the criminal investigation and situation as a whole. So far, the Canadian public is left to speculate on whether or not the Ontario government has done anything wrong but it's safe to say most people are happy the development was stopped before invaluable habitat and environment was irreversibly damaged or lost.

SOURCE:

CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/rcmp-criminal-investigation-ford-greenbelt-1.6991595