When I filed a freedom of information request about Ontario’s Greenbelt, I had a hunch it might lead to some pretty interesting details. But I couldn’t have anticipated what was to come
The Ontario government removed the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve in Pickering from the Greenbelt last year. The province said it aimed to remove sections close to urban areas, but the preserve doesn’t fit that criteria.
Sometimes, when I file a freedom of information request, my heart flutters as I hit that send button.
It’s a nerdy thing to get excited about, I know. But in special cases, like when I wrote a request earlier this year for records about Ontario’s Greenbelt, I just know things are going to get spicy.
I’m Emma McIntosh, an Ontario reporter for The Narwhal. This week, I’m taking you behind the scenes of my push to obtain documents we now know as the Greenbelt Files — a Narwhal scoop that prompted Premier Doug Ford to describe the two-million-acre protected area as “a big scam.”
Ever since the Ontario government announced plans last November to cut into the Greenbelt for housing construction, I’ve been trying to understand how such a significant decision materialized.
Ford and the minister responsible for the Greenbelt, Steve Clark, have said the land removed from the protected area was picked by public servants. They’ve said politicians only found out about the plan days before the public.
But that doesn’t answer all my questions, including some raised by an investigation I worked on with the Toronto Star. For example, what prompted the province to remove protections from so many parcels of land owned by well-connected developers? So I turned to freedom of information. At first, the government denied us access to the Greenbelt Files. But after I filed a second request about my first request — a little bit of FOI-ception, stick with me here — we got something.
The documents were heavily redacted, but they did show senior staff in the premier’s office emailed about changes involving the Greenbelt months before that public timeline. They also showed a staffer breached my privacy while processing the first request: asking others how to respond to a request from The Narwhal, even though all details about who filed a request are meant to be kept confidential. And they showed that the digital folder where staffers were sending info about the request was called the Greenbelt Files, a name too good not to use in my story.
When we published what we knew last week it caused, ahem, a bit of a stir. First, the premier’s office went on the attack online. Then they denied the privacy breach, even though they’d already admitted to it. Finally, Ford himself took a swing at our reporting — and at the Greenbelt itself.
Denying that he had any advance knowledge of the protections being dropped, Ford said the “so-called Greenbelt” is “just a big scam,” a “fancy word” created by the previous Liberal government. He also said his government has a stellar environmental record. (We invite you to read our list of his government’s environmental changes during its second term and decide for yourself.)
The premier’s comments do not match the actual history of the Greenbelt, or his own previous promises to protect it. But they revealed something really important about how Ford sees the Greenbelt, which could have enormous implications for its future.
This all happened because public records helped us open a window into decisions made behind closed doors — and because our members support us in fighting to access them. That’s a battle we don’t intend to drop anytime soon.
Take care and get your story straight,
Emma McIntosh
Ontario reporter
This week in The Narwhal
The last 33 caribou: fighting for the survival of a Wet’suwet’en herd By Matt Simmons
Surrounded by industrial development and human habitation, less than three dozen caribou remain on Wet’suwet’en territory. As government biologists fight to keep the herd alive, recovery efforts will need to look to the past to plan for the future.
They’re not coming for your furnace: Alberta needs a grown-up conversation on climate By Drew Anderson READ MORE
New hope for flood-prone Peguis First Nation means evacuees could come home By Julia-Simone Rutgers READ MORE
‘When is it going to stop?’ Claims made on First Nations’ territories even as they fight century-old mining laws By Francesca Fionda READ MORE
What we’re reading
In The Globe and Mail, photojournalist Amber Bracken reports from the Inuit hamlet of Gjoa Haven, where a greenhouse powered by renewable energy is providing local produce to the community north of the Arctic Circle.
The New Republic dives into the increasing prevalence of mass animal mortality events — and how we understand very little about the repercussions.
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The Ontario government removed the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve in Pickering from the Greenbelt last year. The province said it aimed to remove sections close to urban areas, but the preserve doesn’t fit that criteria.
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With headlines blaring about tariffs, a trade war and a 51st state, it can be easy to feel helpless. Here’s where I see hope: The Narwhal is reporting doggedly on issues surrounding the natural world in Canada that feel so under threat today — including the autonomy and sovereignty of Indigenous Peoples. It’s why I’m a member — and why I hope you’ll be one of 400 readers who joins me this April. Sign up now and receive a Narwhal tote bag as a gift of thanks! — Tanya Talaga, journalist, author and recent Narwhal board chair
With headlines blaring about tariffs, a trade war and a 51st state, it can be easy to feel helpless. Here’s where I see hope: The Narwhal is reporting doggedly on issues surrounding the natural world in Canada that feel so under threat today — including the autonomy and sovereignty of Indigenous Peoples. It’s why I’m a member — and why I hope you’ll be one of 400 readers who joins me this April. — Tanya Talaga, journalist, author and recent Narwhal board chair
