RCMP interviews ‘currently underway’ in Ford government Greenbelt probe

Officers with the have begun interviewing people who work or have worked in Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s office, the government says, as a police investigation into the government’s land swap gathers pace.

The premier’s office said in a statement Friday they had “always said we would cooperate” with the RCMP’s investigation into the land swap of the environmentally-protected lands.

“That cooperation would include the premier and current or former staff conducting interviews as witnesses, which are currently underway,” a spokesperson for Ford’s office said. The development was first reported by the Toronto Star on Friday.

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The RCMP’s investigation was triggered after two watchdog reports last summer into the Ford government’s decision to remove 7,400 acres of protected land from the Greenbelt and allow homes to be built there.

Reports from the auditor general and the integrity commissioner raised concerns about how the decision would benefit some developers and how the chaotic internal process had been conducted.

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Former AG reflects on investigation and Greenbelt scandal

The Ontario Provincial Police, which initially opened up a file on the Greenbelt, kicked up the investigation to the RCMP, citing a desire to avoid a perception of conflict of interest.

More to come…

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