I've been feeling pretty disgusted lately with our world, given our impending climate doom and the humanitarian crises and wars going on. Those pungent testaments to our profound failures as a species (from which not one of us can be excluded) make me angry, disgusted and sad. However, something happened today that has temporarily roused me from my melancholy:
The RCMP has launched a criminal investigation into Premier Doug Ford’s $8.28-billion Greenbelt land swap scandal.
In another stunning setback for Ford’s embattled Progressive Conservatives, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is formally on the case.
“Following a referral from the Ontario Provincial Police, the RCMP ‘O’ Division’s Sensitive and International Investigations (SII) unit has now launched an investigation into allegations associated to the decision from the province of Ontario to open parts of the Greenbelt for development,” the RCMP said in a statement Tuesday.
It was a day I feared wouldn't come, given our national police force's reluctance to delve into things that might be politically messy. The outrage of the public, however, was something it couldn't ignore. Henceforth, however, there will be a cone of silence on the investigation.
“While we recognize that this investigation is of significant interest to Canadians, the RCMP has a duty to protect the integrity of the investigations that it carries out, in order to ensure that the process leads to a fair and proper outcome. Therefore, no further updates will be provided at this time.”
Similarly, says the Ford cabal,
“[o]ut of respect for the police and their process, we will not be commenting further at this time.”
The government may think that this silence will lead to a quelling of outrage and grant them the benefit of time to do further damage control. However, given the tortoise-like pace of such probes, it will likely still be very much an active investigation at the time of the next election, which will give plenty of time for Marit Stiles' NDP to continue with their so-far effective interrogation of this corrupt regime. It will also afford plenty of time for the next Liberal leader to make her/his bones before that election.
NDP Leader Marit Stiles called the development “devastating” for Ford.
“I don’t think we can underestimate how serious it is that our current government is under criminal investigation,” said Stiles.
Interim Liberal leader John Fraser said “all roads lead to the premier’s office — there is no way that in a scandal of this size, one rookie chief of staff was the mastermind behind it.
“Where there’s smoke there’s fire, and we need to get to the bottom of why a handful of the premier’s friends and fundraisers were given the inside track for an $8.3-billion windfall,” said Fraser.
Green Leader Mike Schreiner said he was “pleased to hear that the RCMP is investigating the corrupt process that saw a few wealthy, well-connected land speculators cash in …
“The people of this province put their trust in the premier — and he chose deals for developers over everyday Ontarians,” said Schreiner.
According to Abacus Data polling for the Star, the debacle has hurt the Tories with their support dropping from 41 per cent in July to 38 per cent in August to 34 per cent last month.
And, given the latest development, they will have plenty of time to fall much, much further.
