Ontario Housing Minister Steve Clark Resigns Amid Greenbelt Land Swap Controversy

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.

Weeks earlier, the province’s auditor general found the process for choosing which parcels of land would be open for housing development was heavily influenced by a small group of well-connected developers who stand to make billions of dollars.

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 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.

The move has been condemned by residents, environmental advocacy groups and First Nations leaders alike, saying there was a lack of meaningful consultation and no need to open up Greenbelt land to meet the government’s goal, as previously noted by the Ford government’s hand-picked Housing Affordability Task Force.

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.

Ford, who initially said Clark would keep his job following both investigations, thanked him for his years of service in cabinet.

“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.”