Premier Doug Ford got testy with reporters on Thursday morning while fielding questions on the damning report about the province’s Greenbelt land swap.
Ford held a news conference in Etobicoke with his labour and education ministers, but the availability was overshadowed by the integrity commissioner’s findings and the growing calls for the province’s housing minister to resign.
Calls are growing louder for Steve Clark’s resignation after the integrity commissioner found Wednesday that he violated two sections of the Members’ Integrity Act that governs politicians’ ethics, conflict of interest rules and insider information rules, when the province removed land from the protected Greenbelt for development.
The premier doubled down in his defence of the embattled Clark, saying “we’re going to work with Minister Clark like we work with the other ministers to fulfil our mandate. Our mandate is to build homes”
He then went on the offensive against a reporter when he asked if he would take personal responsibility for the matter.
“I’m sure you just walked down the street from your home,” Ford snapped back instead of answering the question. “You have a home, do you know how many people don’t have a home? There are hundreds of thousands of people who don’t have homes.”
When asked about getting personal with a reporter, the premier responded “you don’t attack me, I don’t attack you.”
Clark is scheduled to address the media in his own news conference from Queen’s Park at 12:30 p.m. Thursday.
J. David Wake’s scathing report found the housing minister failed to oversee the land selection process, which led to the private interests of certain developers being furthered improperly. The developers stand to make $8.3 billion as a result of the deal.
The report concluded that Clark’s chief of staff, Ryan Amato, was the “driving force” behind the lands that were selected to be developed. Amato has denied any wrongdoing but did resign from his position earlier this month after the auditor general found the Ford government gave preferential treatment to developers.
Wake recommended “that Minister Clark be reprimanded for his failure to comply with the Act” and the opposition continues to demand the housing minister’s resignation.
Clark released his own statement saying he accepts the integrity commissioner’s findings. Both Clark and Ford have denied any wrongdoing but have previously admitted the selection process was flawed.
Late Wednesday, the province confirmed it was beginning the process of returning two parcels of land slated for development in Ajax back to the Greenbelt after the owner listed them for sale.
“On the Greenbelt lands, I have a message for developers, get the shovels in the ground“ said Ford on Thursday. “Try me.”
Ontario created the Greenbelt in 2005 to protect agricultural and environmentally sensitive lands in the Greater Golden Horseshoe area from development. Last year, the province took 7,400 acres of land out of the Greenbelt to build 50,000 homes and replaced it with about 9,400 acres elsewhere.
That shows a fundamental misunderstanding about the role of the press in a democracy: it is the job of reporters to ask questions about government activities, regardless of who is in power. That isn’t an attack, it’s how the press keeps a democracy functional.
There is an argument to be made that the press is (generally) less curious about the behaviour of some politicians, but that’s a different conversation.
He has no meaningful options except bluster and threats.