Investigation into housing minister’s chief of staff after scathing Greenbelt report being considered

Ontario’s integrity commissioner is reviewing a request to investigate the way the housing minister’s chief of staff handled opening Greenbelt land to development.

The request was made from the Premier’s Office and is “under review,” a spokesperson for the integrity commissioner told CTV News Toronto in an email.

If the integrity commissioner decides to pursue an investigation, he will look into whether Ryan Amato, the staffer primarily responsible for choosing which sites on the Greenbelt would be opened up for development, “acted contrary to the requirements of the Public Service of Ontario Act.”

This includes reviewing potential conflicts of interest.

The request by the Premier’s Office was one of 15 recommendations made in a scathing Auditor General report that blasted the process in which decisions regarding the Greenbelt were made, indicating that it “favoured certain developers,” among other things.

Of the 7,400 acres of land removed from the Greenbelt, the report found that 92 per cent could be tied to three developers with direct access to the housing ministry.

Fourteen of the 15 sites removed from the Greenbelt were proposed directly by Housing Minister Steve Clark’s Chief of Staff.

This is a breaking news story. More to come.