Ontario Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark has resigned from cabinet after weeks of pushback from political opponents, First Nations leaders and residents following multiple investigations into his ministry’s handling of the Greenbelt land swaps.
His resignation comes after Ontario’s integrity commissioner investigated his conduct and recommended Clark be reprimanded, saying he failed to properly oversee the process that led to protected Greenbelt lands being selected for housing development.
In a letter posted Monday morning addressed to Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Clark said he tried to “fulfil the mandate of getting more homes built” for the people of Ontario.
“Although my initial thought was that I could stay in this role and establish a proper process so that these mistakes don’t happen again, I realize that my presence will only cause a further distraction from the important work that needs to be done and that I need to take accountability for what has transpired,” Clark wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“As such, please accept my resignation as Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. I will continue to serve my constituents as the MPP for Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes.”
Ontario’s housing minister has resigned, but critics say Greenbelt controversy far from over
CBC Toronto’s Ali Chiasson unpacks the reaction to Steve Clark’s resignation, with opposition parties calling for a deeper probe into how the Greenbelt land swaps came to be.
Ontario’s Greenbelt was initially created in 2005 to permanently protect agricultural and environmentally sensitive lands from falling victim to urban sprawl.
The Ford government removed about 2,995 hectares of land from the Greenbelt in December, while adding more land elsewhere, to build 50,000 homes. The Progressive Conservative government has said the land swaps were necessary to help them fulfil their promise of building 1.5 million homes in the next decade amid a housing crisis.
As someone who has given my life to serving the people through our democratic institutions, it is my responsibility to adhere to the principles of Ministerial accountability. I will continue to serve my constituents as the MPP for Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes <a href=”https://t.co/5VvUMB43gi”>pic.twitter.com/5VvUMB43gi</a>
Clark’s departure comes after his chief of staff, Ryan Amato, tendered his resignation. The province’s auditor general found the political staffer 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.
“As Ontario grows, our government is on a mission to build at least 1.5 million homes,” Ford said in a post on X. He made no other mention of Clark’s resignation.
“After decades of inaction, we’re seeing real results: 2022 and 2021 had the most housing starts in 30 years. Our work won’t stop.”
Trust in Ontario government ‘sorely lacking’ over Greenbelt land swap, opposition leader says
Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles reacts to the resignation of Ontario Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark from cabinet after weeks of pushback regarding multiple investigations into his ministry’s handling of the Greenbelt land swaps.
Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles said Clark “finally did the right thing” but added that there are still others who need to be held to account.
“We’ve been calling for this for weeks, and I’m glad to see that he’s finally stepped down,” Stiles told CBC Toronto. “That’s important. It’s time now, though, that the premier took some responsibility.”
Stiles is calling for the Ontario Legislature to be recalled to return the removed lands to the Greenbelt.
“This process was dirty,” Stiles said. “The only way they climb back from this is returning the land to the Greenbelt, and then we can talk about how we change governments.”
John Fraser, interim leader of the Ontario Liberals, and Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner echoed similar calls in public statements.
“What needs to happen next is the premier needs to open the books on the Greenbelt land swaps and waive cabinet privilege as it relates to this decision,” Fraser said.
“The premier keeps assuring us the buck stops with him. It’s time for him to step up and prove it,” Schreiner said.
Doug Ford ‘clearly implicated’ in Greenbelt controversy, Ontario opposition leader says
Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles discusses the allegations of unregistered lobbying and other potential lobbying violations related to the Greenbelt land swap by ‘Mr. X,’ who sources identified to CBC News as former Clarington, Ont., mayor John Mutton. ‘This deal is really very dirty,’ Stiles said on Saturday.
Much of the land removed from the Greenbelt is covered by treaties with the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation and the 1923 Williams Treaties, of which seven other First Nations are party, according to Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk’s report into the land swaps. Those treaties include harvesting rights in certain areas, such as rights to hunt, fish, trap and gather.
Chief Laurie Carr of the Hiawatha First Nation, one of the signatories to the Williams Treaties, was glad to see Clark resign but says the land needs to be returned to the Greenbelt.
“Then we can talk about a relationship and a partnership moving forward,” Carr said.
Resignation just the beginning, advocates say
Advocates who vocally opposed the Greenbelt land swaps reiterated sentiments shared by opposition parties on Monday.
Phil Pothen, Ontario program manager with advocacy group Environmental Defence, said Clark’s resignation is just the first step.
“While the minister’s resignation and the premier’s decision to accept it is entirely predictable as an attempt at damage control, there’s no substitute for actually reversing the Greenbelt removals themselves,” Pothen told CBC Toronto.
He said for the next housing minister to prove they have integrity, the government needs to reverse the swaps.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford, right, listens as Clark speaks during a media conference in Mississauga, Ont., on Aug. 11. Clark resigned his cabinet post on Monday following weeks of pressure from opposition parties and residents over his ministry’s handling of the Greenbelt land swaps. (Cole Burston/The Canadian Press)
In August, Stop Sprawl Durham organized a protest where hundreds demanded protection for the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve, which was removed from the Greenbelt.
Abdullah Mir, Stop Sprawl’s co-chair, said the issue won’t go away until all Greenbelt lands are returned.
“The dominoes will keep falling and we’re not going to stop,” he said. “People are not forgetting about it. We will not forget about it.”
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
