Ford says he's confident nothing criminal took place in Greenbelt land swap amid RCMP probe

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he takes the RCMP's potential investigation into his government's Greenbelt land swap seriously, but is also confident there was no criminal activity involved in that controversial plan.

The RCMP said Wednesday it is assessing whether or not to investigate after receiving a referral from the Ontario Provincial Police.

"If they decide to investigate — they haven't decided yet — but if they do, I take it very serious. Extremely serious. And I'll have zero tolerance if there was any nonsense going on," Ford told reporters at Queen's Park on Friday.

"I'm confident [nothing criminal took place]. I won't tolerate that."

The comments come as the Ontario government continues to face intense scrutiny about its plan to build housing on 15 sites across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) that were removed from the Greenbelt last December.

Staffer resigns after report

Two weeks ago, the province's auditor general found the government's process for choosing which sites to remove from the Greenbelt and open up for housing favoured a small group of well-connected developers who now stand to make billions of dollars. The ensuing controversy prompted the resignation of the housing minister's chief of staff, Ryan Amato, earlier this week.

Amato oversaw a process that was heavily influenced by a small group of politically-connected developers who had direct access to him, the auditor general said.

Her report said Amato — not non-partisan public servants — selected 14 of the 15 sites that were ultimately removed from the Greenbelt and the majority were chosen after suggestions from developers who lobbied him personally through encounters at an industry event or in emails sent by their lawyers.

Both Ford and Clark have said previously they were unaware that the land chosen for removal was brought forward by Amato via the developers. Ford has said he was only briefed on the sites the day before cabinet approved the changes, while Clark has said he learned of the plan the week prior.

Land on the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve in Pickering, Ont., one of 15 areas the Ford government removed from the Greenbelt last December. (Patrick Morrell/CBC)

On Friday, Ford said he never spoke to Amato about or directed him to select any properties to remove from the Greenbelt.

"Let me tell you very simply, and it goes for any premier. You get stuff put in front of you before cabinet, which I did. My exact words: cross the Ts, dot the Is, everything is fine," Ford said.

"I can't micro manage one of the largest — I call it a corporation — one of the largest corporations in North America of $204 billion of revenue, hundreds of thousands of employees, a GDP over a trillion dollars, and micro manage every single person. I don't believe in micromanaging. I believe in delegating work through our ministers and their teams."

Ford reiterated his support for Clark, who is facing calls from all three opposition parties to resign, and said the government is working to improve its processes in the future. But the plan to build homes on the Greenbelt will move forward, Ford said, to help meet the province's target of building 1.5 million homes by 2031.

NDP says AG report reveals 'enormous breach of trust'

Responding to Ford's comments Friday, NDP Leader Marit Stiles said she "doesn't believe for one second" that Ford and Clark were unaware of what was happening.

"If the premier wants to come out here and say that he doesn't like to micromanage, like it's a corporation or something, that's called being the premier. That's called governing," Stiles said. "You may not like it, but it's the job and the people of this province have a right to expect better from the premier of their province."

Stiles said the auditor general's report revealed "an enormous breach of trust."

NDP leader Marit Stiles speaks to the media during a press conference following the release of the Auditor General’s Special Report on Changes to the Greenbelt, at Queens Park earlier this month. (Arlyn McAdorey/The Canadian Press)

Interim Liberal Leader John Fraser said in a statement it is not believable that one political staffer is responsible.

"Today, Premier Ford tried to defend his $8.3 billion cash-for-your-land scheme that benefited his friends and well-connected insiders. He is trying to play us all for fools," Fraser said.

"Minister Clark and Premier Ford brought this scheme forward and supported it at cabinet. That was wrong."

In a statement, Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said his party is calling for a public inquiry to examine the Ford government's "Greenbelt giveaway.

"Under the Premier's watch, accountability and transparency have gone out the window in the name of favours to wealthy, well-connected elites," Schreiner said.

"Everyday Ontarians have been sidelined by a government that has repeatedly put donors and insiders before the public good."

Ontario's integrity commissioner J. David Wake is conducting an investigation related to the Greenbelt land swaps at the request of Stiles. He is also considering whether to investigate whether Amato broke any ethics rules during the process after Ford's office referred the matter to him. A probe by the integrity commissioner was one of 15 recommendations included in Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk's report.