PC government broke the law, used secret codes to hide records related to Greenbelt land grab, IPC finds

When discussing the controversial plan to remove thousands of acres of land from the Greenbelt, PC government staff implemented different code words that would make it “virtually impossible” for members of the public or media to obtain that information by using freedom of information legislation.

This was one of many findings in an alarming report released Thursday by Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner (IPC) which outlined systemic issues in the PC government’s handling of records related to the Greenbelt land swaps.

It details a complete disregard for privacy and records retention laws. 

The report reaffirmed the troubling issues already identified in investigations by Ontario’s auditor general and integrity commissioner including the use of personal devices for government business and the widespread destruction of records related to the scandal. 

Many of the related documents were removed after the Greenbelt scandal erupted in 2023, following the initial decision by the Doug Ford government to swap lands that would have created a massive windfall for preferred developers who acquired properties in the protected Greenbelt that would have increased in value by $8.3 billion if Ford’s planned construction approvals had gone through.

“In a world where trust is increasingly hard to come by, Ontarians deserve clear rules, strong safeguards, and full transparency from their institutions,” IPC Commissioner Patricia Kosseim wrote in a press release. “Whether it’s how decisions are made, how personal data is used, or how emerging technologies are governed, our office will continue pushing for real accountability, because public trust is the foundation of a healthy democracy.”

According to the IPC report, throughout 2022 and 2023, the office received 30 appeals regarding freedom of information requests related to the Greenbelt scandal. So far, 19 of those appeals have been processed. 

“Collectively, these cases revealed some concerning issues of a systemic nature,” the report highlights. 

Since the scandal exploded in the summer of 2023 The Pointer has been working to obtain further information related to the decision by the PC government to remove 15 parcels of land from the Greenbelt. The scandal, which the auditor general found favoured certain developers, rocked the government. Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk estimated the 7,413 acres of the Greenbelt quietly selected for development increased in value from approximately $240 million prior to Ford’s decision, to $8.523 billion. 

Using the Freedom of Information process, The Pointer has been trying to answer pressing questions: how were each of the 15 Greenbelt parcels selected; who was involved; why is there so little publicly available documentation of the work that was done; what did Ford know and when; and why did the PC government move so fast to give a small number of developers what they wanted?

The Pointer filed a number of FOI requests in November with the Cabinet Office, the department responsible for providing advice and analysis to the premier and his ministers to push forward government priorities.

The Pointer requested copies of all meeting materials, including slide decks, memos and meeting notes between October 22, 2022 and November 2, 2022. It is during this period that Ford and his Cabinet were briefed on the 15 parcels of land proposed to be removed from the Greenbelt. Ford and Clark both claim this is when they first learned about the plan to open up these parcels for development.

On December 19, 2024, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing informed The Pointer the request had been extended 90 days to March 19, 2025. 

The package of 106 pages of documents that were eventually shared was not helpful. Nearly a third of the pages were fully redacted; others are heavily redacted meeting notes, or scanned copies of handwritten notes that are barely legible. 

The Pointer has also requested all communications between Michelle DiEmanuele, the Secretary of Cabinet, and 18 individuals including key ministers, their staff and Ford. Specifically, The Pointer was looking for discussions, communications, presentations and any record between September 1, 2022 and December 1, 2022 regarding anything to do with the Greenbelt land swaps; decisions around the parcels of land being selected; Greenbelt policy and the carrying out of the PC government's stated objective to remove certain parcels from the protected Greenbelt.

This request is currently being appealed to the IPC, with the Cabinet office claiming only about 30 pages of records exist, which would be unusual given the scale of the Greenbelt land swaps. Much smaller initiatives routinely generate hundreds of pages of notes, memos, emails, reports and various other pieces of communication shared between individuals connected to government.

This is acknowledged by the IPC in its report Thursday.

“It was surprising to find so few responsive records documenting any government decisions or actions, how and when they were made, and by whom. The near-total absence of decision-making documentation is particularly concerning, especially on a file as high profile and consequential as changes to the Greenbelt,” the report details. “Despite evidence of meetings and discussions involving Premier’s Office staff and ministry staff about the Greenbelt, there was very little documentation of what was said or decided in those conversations, aside from a few contemporaneous notes taken by ministry staff. These notes reflect what staff understood at the time to be directives from the Premier’s Office. Yet, as the Integrity Commissioner found, these directives likely came from the ministry’s chief of staff, not the Premier’s Office. Unfortunately, the lack of proper documentation only added to the murkiness of decision making.”

Both Ford and former housing minister Steve Clark (who resigned from the post following the scandal) pushed a narrative that they knew nothing about the land selection process. The blame was almost entirely placed at the feet of Clark’s former chief of staff Ryan Amato. It’s a narrative that evidence from investigations conducted by the auditor general and integrity commissioner suggest is not true, with documents revealing that both Ford and Clark were well aware of the process unfolding to open up the Greenbelt for developers who had acquired lands leading up to the decision. Builders, according to the AG and IC investigations, were heavily involved in influencing the decision eventually reached by Ford’s government, before he backtracked when fierce public backlash mounted following the watchdog probes.

Both Premier Doug Ford and MPP Steve Clark, the former minister of municipal affairs and housing, claim they were not involved in the selection process for removing parcels of land from the Greenbelt. There is ample evidence that suggests this is not true.

(Government of Ontario)

The lack of available records identified by the IPC could be a result of the already publicized destruction of communications and other records that occurred after the Greenbelt scandal came to light. This was highlighted in former auditor general Bonnie Lysyk’s report which found “emails were regularly being deleted by political staff.” 

This led to the IPC issuing a rare preemptive order to the government to make every effort to preserve records related to the Greenbelt land swaps. 

It could also be a result of the usage of code words, which the IPC notes would make it “virtually impossible” to locate documents. 

“Inconsistent use of code words such as ‘special project’ or ‘SP — GB’ or ‘GB’ or ‘special project — GB’ when referring to the Greenbelt project made it unduly difficult for the government to find responsive records using standard search methodology,” the IPC report states. “Worse, the use of the codeword ‘G*’ made it virtually impossible to find relevant records, given that the asterisk (“*”) is used as a technical wildcard when conducting text searches, returning any word starting with ‘G’. Trying to search with ‘G*’ would have returned a massive number of records, rendering it wholly impossible to sort through.” 

The code words and use of an asterisk next to a “G” kept documents hidden from view. 

“Unfortunately, given the technical impossibility to search for records using this term, it remains impossible to know either way.”

Evidence that has already come to light suggests both Ford and Clark were part of an effort to favour certain developers that had already acquired specific pieces of land inside the Greenbelt singled out for construction. They would have known that without a change in policy to lift the protected status, those properties would have no value to them.  

The Ontario Integrity Commissioner, David Wake, found Clark broke numerous ethics laws by failing to adequately monitor staff under his control. He outlined how the concerted effort by the PCs to dismantle regulations around smart planning and the years-long lobbying by developers worked hand-in-hand to open up the Greenbelt.

“The evidence paints a picture of a process marked by misinterpretation, unnecessary hastiness and deception,” Wake wrote in his report released in late August 2023. 

Wake’s report contains evidence that meetings took place between Ford and Clark’s offices on the Greenbelt plan, despite their claims they knew nothing.

Wake cites typed notes by an unnamed ministry official from a meeting that took place on October 21, 2022. They detail a senior planner pointing out three additional sites that were not included on any prior list for removal from the Greenbelt. The notes cite that Amato stated, “3 additional files were given straight from premier”.

“Another ministry official advised they recalled being told files had been given straight from Ford, but they did not recall which ones,” Wake’s report revealed. 

Both Ford and Amato denied that the Premier gave any site recommendations when questioned by the IC, with Wake concluding Amato was likely “dropping the name of the premier” to lend authority to the direction being given.  

Notes from the same October meeting indicate Clark was concerned about servicing, and there would be a “briefing with M on wed” and “need to finalize the list in scope; will raise issues re: use it/lose it; on M’s mind, servicing for each property”; “M” was a reference to the minister, suggesting Clark was aware of issues related to the parcels of land to be removed from the Greenbelt. 

The IPC states what unfolded with the Greenbelt scandal brings the Ontario government “full circle” back to the Liberal Gas Scandal in 2013, suggesting politicians learned nothing from the lessons in that investigation which led to a four-month jail sentence for former premier Dalton McGuinty’s chief of staff, David Livingston. This has not been lost on the Opposition NDP. 

“Deleting government records is illegal. The last time this happened; someone went to jail. Enough hiding, it’s time for the Premier to come clean,” Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles wrote in a Thursday press release. “When will the Premier finally answer for the disturbing culture of dodging accountability and disappearing records within this government? Today’s report makes it clear that the Ford government broke the law while trying to cover up their Greenbelt carve-up. It’s time for consequences.”

The IPC makes a number of recommendations to avoid similar situations in the future, including prohibiting the use of personal devices for government business (already a routinely circulated direction from the IPC); reviewing and modernizing policies for records retention; and increasing and improving training. 

“The dearth of documentation of any discussions, decisions or actions runs counter to basic record-keeping requirements and undermines government transparency,” the IPC report concludes. “When key government decisions are not properly documented, when code words are used, or when records are stored in fragmented ways across personal and official systems, transparency suffers, and with it, public trust.”

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