Hello,
The Ontario Integrity Commissioner says it is reviewing a request from Premier Doug Ford’s office to investigate a senior aide about his role in selecting which lands in the protected Greenbelt would be approved for housing development.
Ontario’s Auditor-General recommended that the province ask Integrity Commissioner J. David Wake to determine if Housing Minister Steve Clark’s chief of staff, Ryan Amato, acted contrary to the Public Service of Ontario Act.
In a statement Thursday, Michelle Renaud, the commissioner’s manager of communications and outreach, confirmed receipt of a request from the Premier’s Office, and that the request is under review.
This week, as Queen’s Park reporter Jeff Gray reports here, Auditor-General Bonnie Lysyk issued a scathing report on the provincial government’s removal of 3,000 hectares from its protected Greenbelt, saying the changes resulted from a “biased” process driven by a senior political staffer that “favoured certain developers” and lacked environmental or financial analysis.
Ms. Lysyk said Mr. Amato told them he received packages from two prominent developers at a conference dinner last September that included proposals to build homes on protected Greenbelt land owned by the developers.
Mr. Amato told the Auditor-General he did not tell the developers that the province would open up the Greenbelt.
Ms. Lysyk said the developers who had access to Mr. Amato at the dinner ended up with 92 per cent of the land that was removed from the Greenbelt.
With a report from The Canadian Press
This is the daily Politics Briefing newsletter, written by Ian Bailey. It is available exclusively to our digital subscribers. If you're reading this on the web, subscribers can sign up for the Politics newsletter and more than 20 others on our newsletter signup page. Have any feedback? Let us know what you think.
TODAY'S HEADLINES
Ottawa announces details of proposed Clean Electricity Regulations, outlining flexible compliance options - Ottawa is playing down the demands that its new rules to restrict the use of fossil fuels in electricity generation will place on power utilities, as it attempts to quell mounting backlash from Western provinces that produce and rely on natural gas. Story here.
Manitoba can’t walk away ‘scot-free’ from landfill victims: former Crown-Indigenous relations minister - There is no scenario in which a province gets to walk away “scot-free” when two women are believed to be lying dead in a dump, says former Crown-Indigenous relations minister Marc Miller, referring to demands for a search of a Winnipeg-area landfill where the remains of two murdered Indigenous women are thought to be located. Story here.
Biden’s new restrictions on U.S. investment in China prompt Ottawa to consult with Washington - Canadian officials are consulting with Washington about how to deal with an executive order that President Joe Biden signed Wednesday to prohibit some new U.S. investment in China in sensitive technologies like computer chips. Story here.
First Nations raise alarm over impact of planned nuclear-waste dump on Ottawa drinking water - Ontario and Quebec First Nations are raising the alarm about a proposed nuclear waste dump on their ancestral land, saying it risks polluting the Ottawa River, which supplies drinking water to the country’s capital, with a radioactive substance. Story here.
Quebec power utility studies possible reopening of Gentilly-2 nuclear reactor- Quebec’s hydroelectric utility says it is studying whether to reopen the province’s only nuclear power generating station, which was shut down in 2012 after it reached the end of its service life and needed refurbishment. Story here.
Federal government settles with Saskatchewan First Nation over treaty dispute - A Saskatchewan First Nation is celebrating a settlement with the federal government after they failed to provide agricultural benefits to the community, violating their treaty agreement. Story here.
Quebecor stops paying rent for its National Assembly press gallery offices - Quebecor, whose media assets include TVA television network and Le Journal de Montréal, has stopped paying rent to the National Assembly legislature for its media offices there. Story here from CBC.
Minister launches review of B.C. port strike case to uncover ‘structural issues’ - Federal Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan is launching an examination of the recently resolved British Columbia port dispute to see if “structural issues” in negotiations led to a 13-day work stoppage last month. Story here.
THIS AND THAT
Summer Break – Both the House of Commons and the Senate are on breaks. The House sits again on Sept. 18. The Senate sits again on Sept. 19.
Deputy Prime Minister’s Day - Chrystia Freeland, in Toronto, held private meetings, attended an event to discuss housing affordability, and took media questions.
Ministers on the Road - Veterans Affairs Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor, in Surrey, B.C., made an announcement of support for five veterans’ associations. Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal, in Inuvik, NWT, with territorial Premier Caroline Cochrane and Yukon Premier Ranj Pillai, made an announcement.
Black parliamentarians meet - Members of the Canadian Congress of Black Parliamentarians are meeting on Parliament Hill on Thursday and Friday. The congress was established in 2015 by Liberal MP Michael Coteau, and Tony Ince, a Liberal member of the Nova Scotia legislature. This week’s meeting is the first since 2020, and has 45 attendees from the municipal, provincial, federal and trustee levels. The congress was established to bring together politicians from all parties, to help identify issues that impact Black Canadians and to foster a stronger working relationship among Black elected officials.
PRIME MINISTER'S DAY
Private meetings in British Columbia. There’s a story here on the Prime Ministers’ whereabouts.
LEADERS
No schedules released for party leaders.
THE DECIBEL
On Thursday’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast, Decibel producer Madeleine White, along with Globe and Mail science reporter Ivan Semeniuk, go two kilometres underground to visit SNOLAB, a Sudbury, Ontario facility where researchers are running experiments to research dark matter, believed to make up 85 per cent of all mass in the universe. The Decibel is here.
TRIBUTE
Hugh Segal - Former Tory senator and Progressive Conservative political staffer Hugh Segal died Wednesday, in Kingston, Ont., aged 72. Mr. Segal’s decades-long career in Canadian politics included serving as chief of staff to prime minister Brian Mulroney and Ontario premier Bill Davis. News of Mr. Segal’s passing drew tributes from across the political spectrum, including from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau here and federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre here.
Mr. Segal’s family said, in a statement Thursday, that details on a celebration of his life will be announced shortly. “We are deeply touched by the condolences we are receiving from Hugh’s many friends near and far and fellow political and public policy warriors of all partisan stripes,” said the statement. “We take comfort in your stories of his service to Canada and all Canadians, his commitment to decency in our politics, and his laugh. We thank you for loving Hugh as much as we do.” Story here.
OPINION
The Globe and Mail Editorial Board on a damning Greenbelt report exposing Ford government favouritism: “There has always been an unpleasant odour coming from the Ontario government’s decision to open 15 parcels of land in the Greenbelt – a massive swath of protected farms, fragile ecosystems and headwaters around the western end of Lake Ontario – to housing development. On Wednesday, the province’s Auditor-General explained why. Bonnie Lysyk’s report into the Ford government’s changes to the Greenbelt could not be more damning.”
Alex Bozikovic (The Globe and Mail) on how more housing is no explanation for Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s attack on the Greenbelt: “If Mr. Ford really cares so much about the housing crisis, he should be pushing aggressively to make sure that cities, especially Toronto and Mississauga, are rapidly increasing their rate of growth. These places have wide swaths of low-density neighbourhoods that could easily absorb more people in a manner that is cost-effective, convenient and reduces the province’s carbon emissions. Much more housing in cities is necessary. The principal obstacles are planning regulations and local politics. Mr. Ford could use his power to overcome these.”
Gary Mason (The Globe and Mail) on how Alberta’s freeze on renewable energy projects belongs in the hall of fame of dumb ideas: “Throughout her turbulent time in office, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has been consistent about one thing: her use of the federal Liberals as a dodge for her own incompetence. Anything bad that befalls the province is the fault of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Anything good is the result of her United Conservative Party’s brilliant policies. Although that list is far shorter than the former. Now, the Premier is in full damage control mode (again) over her government’s decision last week to put an almost seven-month freeze on renewable energy projects in the province. The decision came as a complete shock to the industry, which wasn’t offered so much as a phone call to let them know what was coming.”
Konrad Yakabuski (The Globe and Mail) on how Meta is not the biggest threat to Canadian newspapers: “The battle over Bill C-18, Ottawa’s Online News Act, has made for strange bedfellows. That was apparent this week as the country’s private broadcasters and newspapers teamed up with their public sector rival, CBC/Radio-Canada, to ask the Competition Bureau to investigate Meta’s move to block Canadian news from Facebook and Instagram – a move they call “an obvious violation of the abuse of dominance provision” in the Competition Act. Meta’s hardball tactics in response to C-18, which would force tech giants to compensate Canadian news outlets for linking to their content, has managed to unite domestic industry players that are usually at each other’s throats.”
Paulette Senior (Policy Options) on the gender gap in disaster preparedness: “Like the rest of the world, Canada was unprepared for the pandemic. Policymakers were also ill-prepared for its gender-specific impacts because emergency preparedness lacks a Gender-Based Analysis Plus. Recent research quantifies the intersectional gender gap in federal, provincial and territorial emergency and pandemic plans. Of 28 plans reviewed, just two refer to “gender” and five mention “women.” Only two refer to domestic violence. All but three refer to social vulnerability. But the plans don’t get into many specifics, nor do they explain how acknowledgment and understanding of social vulnerabilities affect planning.”
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