Ontario

Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced a "review" of the Greenbelt this week, after two watchdog reports that found the process of deciding what land to drop protections on was rushed and unfair. No development will be paused during the review, which could end up in more land being opened for building.

What does a ‘review’ of Ontario’s Greenbelt mean for the environment?

By Emma McIntosh, Fatima Syed and Denise Balkissoon

Sept. 6, 2023 15 min. read

The cabinet shuffle shows the Greenbelt scandal is hurting the Ford government, but a leaked...

A man standing with a sign that reads "DON'T RUSH THIS DECISION." People around him have smaller signs that read "Say No Way to Galloway"

Development outcry, at-risk wildlife, political donations, a housing crisis — and we’re not just talking Greenbelt

By Karan Saxena

Aug. 31, 2023

This week, we bring you a big investigation from the small town of Fernie, B.C....

Ontario's integrity commissioner reports that Premier Doug Ford instructed Housing Minister Steve Clark to open land in the Greenbelt to development, and that Clark breached ethic rules concerning conflict of interest and insider information when he let his chief of staff, Ryan Amato, control the process of how that land was chosen.

Mr. X, private lunches and ‘untrained’ staff: how Ontario’s housing minister was found to have breached ethics rules over Greenbelt

By Emma McIntosh, Fatima Syed and Denise Balkissoon

Aug. 30, 2023(Updated Aug. 31, 2023) 21 min. read

Ontario Housing Minister Steve Clark had his “head in the sand” about how the Greenbelt...

Ring of Fire: Ontario Premier Doug Ford stares straight ahead inside Queen's Park

Ontario’s information watchdog is considering ‘potential next steps’ on alleged deleted Greenbelt emails

By Emma McIntosh

Aug. 24, 2023 6 min. read

An audit found political staffers in the Ontario government allegedly deleted records and used personal...

Outgoing Ontario Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk poses by a railing inside an office atrium

Meet Bonnie Lysyk, the author of the bombshell report on Ontario’s Greenbelt and developer influence

By Emma McIntosh and Fatima Syed

Aug. 21, 2023 13 min. read

The outgoing Ontario auditor general sat down with The Narwhal for an exit interview about...

The Progressive Conservative government is attempting to manage protests, further investigation and other fallout after a scathing report on its opening of the Greenbelt to development.

Greenbelt updates: RCMP launches investigation, Ford reverses changes

By Emma McIntosh and Fatima Syed

Aug. 17, 2023(Updated Oct. 20, 2023) 23 min. read

The RCMP investigation comes weeks after Ontario Premier Doug Ford admitted making a mistake on...

After Ontario's auditor general said his government's decision to build on some Greenbelt land gave "preferential treatment" to specific developers, Premier Doug Ford repeated his claim that building on formerly protected land is necessary so immigrants can achieve the “Ontario dream.”

Doug Ford says building on the Greenbelt will help immigrants achieve the ‘Ontario dream’. Here’s why he’s (still) wrong

Aug. 17, 2023 9 min. read

Doug Ford says any houses built on formerly protected Greenbelt lands will help young people...

Fatima Syed, Denise Balkissoon, Emma McIntosh

We were right about the Greenbelt changes — now what?

By Denise Balkissoon

Aug. 10, 2023

In this week’s newsletter, our Ontario team talks about a scathing audit into the Ford...

A report by auditor general Bonnie Lysyk added key dates to the timeline of the Doug Ford government's development policy decisions around Ontario's protected Greenbelt.

The Doug Ford government and Ontario’s Greenbelt: a timeline

By Fatima Syed, Denise Balkissoon and Emma McIntosh

Aug. 9, 2023 21 min. read

Auditor general’s explosive report adds key dates to the chronology that has confused Ontarians —...

Load More Stories