Lawsuit alleges former Ford staffers promised to use 'backchannel contacts' to get land rezoned
Lucas Powers | CBC News | Posted: February 6, 2025 7:31 PM | Last Updated: 5 hours ago
1 of the staffers was at the centre of the Greenbelt land swap scandal
An Ontario property developer alleges two former Ford government staffers — including one at the centre of the Greenbelt scandal — promised to use their influence at Queen's Park to get several plots of land rezoned.
In exchange for access to their "backchannel contacts and political connections," the developer would pay the pair through a GTA construction management firm to "make their involvement less transparent," a statement of claim filed in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in December alleges.
Both men still worked for Ontario's Progressive Conservative government when the alleged agreement was made in the summer of 2023.
Details of the lawsuit were first reported by The Trillium this week.
The allegations against Ryan Amato, Shiv Raj and the Frontier Group of Companies, as well its founder and vice president, have not been tested in court.
A lawyer representing Amato and Raj said the statement of claim contains "false and baseless accusations" and that both men "acted in full compliance with the law and will defend any claims to the contrary."
Amato was chief of staff to Ontario's former minister of municipal affairs and housing, Steve Clark, when the province announced it was opening land in the Greenbelt for development. He resigned his post in August 2023, weeks after the auditor general concluded the plan unfairly favoured a select group of developers that stood to profit by more than $8 billion. Clark then stepped down in September amid fierce public backlash.
Ontario's integrity commissioner subsequently found Amato was "the driving force" behind the selection of Greenbelt lands for development. Premier Doug Ford's government eventually reversed its Greenbelt decision the following month.
The affair is currently under investigation by the RCMP, and Ford's political opponents have accused him of calling a snap election in part to outrun the results of the probe.
WATCH | RCMP interviewing witnesses:
Meanwhile, Raj was director of operations in Ford's office from 2019 to 2023. He is currently a volunteer on the PC election campaign. A spokesperson for the campaign said in an email the "premier is unaware of this lawsuit, and the province has no involvement in it nor has it ever considered any changes to these properties."
Up to $190K in monthly fees, lawsuit alleges
The suit was filed on behalf of Amanpreet Jakhar, who owns a $2.5-million property in Oakville, and two numbered corporations that own properties in Grimsby and London purchased for $4.27 million and $760,000, respectively, the court documents said.
The plaintiffs are seeking $2.25 million and are accusing Amato, Raj and Frontier of negligence, breach of contract, fraudulent misrepresentation, unjust enrichment and conspiracy, among other allegations.
According to the statement of claim, Jakhar met with the defendants in the summer of 2023 and soon signed written agreements with Frontier — and made oral agreements with Amato and Raj — to secure their help to have each of the three properties rezoned within five to eight months.
It was agreed Amato and Shiv would "provide lobbying services leveraging their connections" in the housing ministry and premier's office to secure the rezoning approvals, the suit alleges. The pair would be paid through Frontier "in order to conceal their involvement from the outside world," the statement of claim says.
Jakhar and the numbered corporations were collectively paying the defendants as much as $190,000 per month for their services, the suit says, and paid out a total of $1.5 million in fees over the course of the agreements, according to the court documents.
The suit claims Amato, Raj and Frontier did "little to no work" to actually obtain the rezoning approvals but misrepresented their efforts throughout the duration of the agreements. It also says Amato and Raj were supposed to register as provincial government lobbyists as part of their work but never did so.
None of the three properties had been rezoned when the lawsuit was filed in mid-December.
A lawyer for the Frontier Group of Companies said neither he or his clients would comment on the suit, as it is before the courts. He added, though, that the "allegations in the lawsuit are simply that" and his clients will "vigorously defend" the claim.
Allegations raised on the campaign trail
On the campaign trail Thursday, leaders of Ontario's opposition parties said Ford bears some responsibility for the alleged behaviour of the two formerly high-ranking government staffers.
"The buck stops with Doug Ford," Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie said at a stop in Toronto. "He's responsible for the behaviour of his team and his staff."
NDP Leader Marit Stiles said the "rot starts at the top."
"Time and time again, Doug Ford has shown us who he is — someone who used his time in government to enable billions of dollars' worth of corruption, oversee backroom deals to enrich insiders, and create a culture of cash-for-access to sell off our province for bags of cash," Stiles said in a statement.
Speaking to media, Ford said said Jakhar's allegations were news to him.
"First of all, I didn't know anything about this, and I don't get involved in stuff like that," he said.
Ford also told reporters that he has not been interviewed by the RCMP in its Greenbelt probe, but he does not know if any of his staffers have been questioned.
"I don't go around asking people in our office, that's up to them," he said.
"And what I have said is let's co-operate 1,000 per cent because we did nothing wrong."