Opening the Greenbelt was a mistake, I regret for breaking the promise : Doug Ford

Ontario Premier Doug Ford is reversing his government's controversial plan to open up the greenbelt and called it a mistake.

Ford announced at a press conference Thursday that he promised the people of Ontario not to touch the greenbelt and that promise has been broken.

Ford said it was a mistake to open the process and that they deeply regretted it.

A few weeks ago, Steve Clark, who has been Ontario's housing minister since 2018, resigned from his position after a report by the Integrity Commissioner found that he had violated ethical rules, after which Paul Calandra was appointed as Ontario's new Minister of Housing.

It is noteworthy that Ontario's Integrity Commissioner J. David Wake said in his report that Clark had breached two sections of the Members' Integrity Act during the process of removing land from the Greenbelt for construction.

Last year, the province removed 7,400 acres of greenbelt land to build 50,000 homes and replaced it with about 9,400 acres elsewhere.

The Integrity Commissioner found that there was undue haste and fraud in the process of removing the greenbelt land.