Opposition leaders accused Progressive Conservative Chief Doug Ford on Thursday of being partially liable for the behaviour of two former staffers alleged to have used their contacts in a real-estate rezoning scheme. Oakville, Ont.
Opposition leaders accused Progressive Conservative Chief Doug Ford on Thursday of being partially liable for the behaviour of two former staffers alleged to have used their contacts in a real-estate rezoning scheme.
Oakville, Ont., property proprietor Amanpreet Jakhar and two numbered corporations have filed a $2.2-million lawsuit in opposition to former authorities staffers Ryan Amato and Shiv Raj, in addition to developer Frontier Group.
Jakhar is suing for negligence, breach of contract, fraudulent misrepresentation and different alleged offences. Jakhar and the businesses say they wished to have three properties rezoned in order that they might be developed. They allege Amato, Raj and the Frontier Group pledged to rezone these properties “utilizing their backchannel contacts and political connections.”
Amato and Raj, by their lawyer, denied the allegations as “false and baseless accusations which don’t mirror the excessive degree of integrity and professionalism” to which the boys maintain themselves.
Each acted in “full compliance with the legislation,” Joshua Henderson mentioned.
Frontier Group’s lawyer didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark, however all three defendants have filed notices in court docket of their intent to battle in opposition to the lawsuit.
Liberal Chief Bonnie Crombie mentioned the allegations are paying homage to Ford’s now-reversed plan to develop the protected Greenbelt. That call is now below legal investigation by the RCMP and Crombie believes Ford has referred to as the snap Feb. 27 election to outrun the outcomes of that probe.
“The buck stops with Doug Ford,” Crombie mentioned at a marketing campaign cease in Toronto. “He is liable for the behaviour of his group and his workers.”
NDP Chief Marit Stiles mentioned the “rot begins on the high.”
“Time and time once more, Doug Ford has proven us who he’s – somebody who used his time in authorities to allow billions of {dollars}’ price of corruption, oversee backroom offers to counterpoint insiders, and create a tradition of cash-for-access to unload our province for luggage of money,” Stiles mentioned in an announcement.
Ford mentioned Jakhar’s allegations had been information to him.
“To begin with, I did not know something about this, and I do not get entangled in stuff like that,” he mentioned.
Jakhar claims he and the numbered corporations signed a contract with Frontier to assist with the technique to safe the rezoning permits at a price of greater than $55,000 monthly.
Jakhar alleged in court docket paperwork that his group wished three properties rezoned. One is in Oakville, Ont., and was bought in 2020 for $2.5 million with the intention to construct a residential highrise.
Additionally they wished one other property in London, Ont., purchased for $760,000 in 2019, to be rezoned for industrial improvement. They usually sought to rezone a 3rd property in Grimsby, Ont., bought for practically $4.3 million in 2022, for business and residential functions.
The lawsuit alleges that a number of the cash the plaintiffs had been paying Frontier Group for work to get rezoning approvals would stream not directly to Amato, who was then the chief of workers for former housing minister Steve Clark, and Raj, who was working within the premier’s workplace on the time. Raj is presently volunteering on Ford’s election marketing campaign group.
Jakhar alleges he and the unnamed principals of the numbered corporations approached Raj, an acquaintance, for assistance on the properties in the summertime of 2023. Raj then allegedly launched the group to Anthony Pollo, the vice-president of Frontier Group.
Raj, Pollo and Amato then allegedly instructed the group they might acquire rezoning permits for these properties inside 5 to eight months, the swimsuit claims.
Jakhar’s group alleges they signed an settlement with Frontier with the technique to fulfill with the premier’s workplace, the housing ministry’s workers and different ministries.
Jakhar’s group paid $1.5 million in complete for Frontier’s providers, however claims little was completed.
“Not one of the properties had been rezoned within the 5-8 month interval, not one of the properties have since been rezoned, and following inquiries by the plaintiffs, aside from soil testing and a few preliminary contact with the respective municipalities, no steps have been taken by the defendants to rezone the properties,” Jakhar’s group mentioned in court docket paperwork.
The allegations haven’t been examined in court docket.
In late 2022, Clark introduced the federal government would open up the protected Greenbelt for improvement in an effort to construct 50,000 properties. It was a part of Ford’s promise to construct 1.5 million properties by 2031.
Opening up the Greenbelt sparked a public outcry that hit a fever pitch in the summertime of 2023.
Clark resigned in August 2023 within the wake of two legislative watchdogs’ probes into the choice to take away 15 parcels of land from the Greenbelt. The auditor basic and the integrity commissioner each independently discovered the federal government favoured some builders over others within the determination to choose which parcels of land can be eliminated for improvement.
The watchdogs discovered that Amato was the important thing determine who helped put collectively the checklist of properties the federal government would take away from the Greenbelt. He resigned per week earlier than Clark and has denied any wrongdoing.
The auditor basic mentioned the small group of builders stood to profit to the tune of $8.3 billion.
Ford walked the choice again and returned these lands to the Greenbelt within the fall of 2023.
“That is precisely why the Ford authorities is below RCMP investigation for the $8.3 billion Greenbelt scandal,” Inexperienced Get together Chief Mike Schreiner wrote in an announcement Thursday.
Ford mentioned Thursday he has not been interviewed by the RCMP in its Greenbelt probe, however he doesn’t know if any of his staffers have been questioned.
“I do not go round asking folks in our workplace, that is as much as them,” he mentioned.
“And what I’ve mentioned is let’s co-operate 1,000 per cent as a result of we did nothing flawed.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first revealed Feb. 6, 2025.
Allison Jones and Liam Casey, The Canadian Press
