Ontario watchdog calls for probe into Mr. X's purchase, donation of tickets to premier's gala
CTV
An Ontario election watchdog is calling for a new investigation into how a company run by the man labelled as “Mr. X” obtained and then donated two $1,500 tickets to a fundraiser for Premier Doug Ford.
An Ontario election watchdog is calling for a new investigation into intrigue surrounding the removal of lands from the province’s protected Greenbelt — this time involving how a company run by the man labelled as “Mr. X” obtained and then donated two $1,500 tickets to a fundraiser for Premier Doug Ford.
Duff Conacher of Democracy Watch says it doesn’t make sense that a company tied to “Mr. X” could give two tickets for the Progressive Conservative Leader’s Dinner in March to two Pickering councillors, and then have none of those names appear in provincial disclosures of political donations.
“The situation raises a lot of questions and the chief electoral officer at Elections Ontario should investigate to find out if any rules were broken,” Conacher said.
“Mr. X” was featured in a scathing report by the province’s integrity commissioner, who described him as one of several individuals who pushed to get land out of the Greenbelt in an unfair process that turned cheap farmland into land worth billions to developers. He is not a registered lobbyist.
The controversy sparked the resignation of former Housing Minister Steve Clark and his chief of staff, and Ford has vowed to review all lands in the Greenbelt — but has not responded to critics’ calls to undo the earlier deals.
Multiple sources have told CTV News that “Mr. X” is former Clarington mayor John Mutton.
In the report, the integrity commissioner quoted a contract that indicated he would get a $225,000 “Greenbelt fee” when 86 acres north of Nash Road in Clarington were removed from the Greenbelt, and a further $775,000 when it could be developed.
