Ford vowed to return land to the Greenbelt. What happens now?
Here's what we know so far about what could happen next
The Ontario government is reversing course on its controversial decision to open up Greenbelt land to development — a move applauded by advocates, political opponents, and residents alike.
But there's still many unanswered questions on what happens next. Here's what we know so far.
Is the move set in stone?
Ford may have vowed to return all 2,995 hectares of land back into the protected Greenbelt, but that only becomes official with legislation. The Ontario legislature returns to Queen's Park on Monday.
What happens to the land that was added to the Greenbelt?
When the province removed lands from the Greenbelt, it also added about 3,804 hectares elsewhere. The auditor general found that about 971 hectares of it was already protected by existing policies.
Ford confirmed Thursday that the lands added into the Greenbelt will stay.
Has development work started on any land?
Tim Gray, the executive director for Environmental Defence, an advocacy organization that's been one of the main opponents to the province's Greenbelt land swap, said no development has occurred on lands that were removed.
"We're very fortunate that the level of pushback for municipalities and the public has meant that none of the lands that were taken out of the Greenbelt have had any development occur on them whatsoever," said Gray.
"That's really good news. It puts them in a very good place to be put back into protection."
WATCH | What led to the Greenbelt land swap reversal:
Will affected developers sue the province?
It's not known if any developer will sue the province, but they definitely have the option to.
"Whether that's going to be sustained based upon court decisions is another matter," said Tim Gilbert, the managing partner at Gilbert's LLP.
Gilbert says each developer's case can vary depending on the land they own, when they acquired it and under what circumstances, and the value of the development opportunities lost. It's likely that this valuation could be multiple millions of dollars, he said.
That's why it was a risky move to open up the Greenbelt and then walk back the decision, he said. But one thing the province can do is block out any requests for compensation in legislation.
"I think they're going to be very careful about how they respond to something like this and not offer blank cheques to any developers."
Ford said he can't predict how developers affected by the reversal are going to react, but hopes to work with them as "part of the solution" to build more homes.
When asked if the government will owe those developers any money, Ford said newly-appointed Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Paul Calandra is "working through those details" and they'll be made public once confirmed.
In the meantime, CBC News has reached out to the affected developers for comment.
Only Flato Developments — which owns land in Markham and Whitchurch-Stouffville and is owned by Shakir Rehmatullah, a self-described friend of Ford — has commented, saying they "respect and agree" with the decision.
"We will continue our work to build homes in accordance with all municipal and provincial requirements and look forward to continuing to address the need for more, diverse housing in Ontario," said Rehmatullah in a company statement.
Are there any outstanding investigations looking into how this happened?
Official opposition NDP leader Marit Stiles says her party is considering putting in another request to the province's integrity commissioner to investigate former cabinet minister and PC MPP Kaleed Rasheed, who resigned after news reports raised questions about his connections to Rehmatullah and a trip to Las Vegas.
The integrity commissioner's office has previously confirmed it received a request from the premier's office for a determination on whether Ryan Amato, the former chief of staff to the minister of municipal affairs and housing acted contrary to the requirements of the Public Service of Ontario Act, 2006. Amato resigned in late August.
As of last week, the office has said the request is still under consideration. CBC News has reached out for an update.
Meanwhile, the RCMP remained tight-lipped on the status of its potential investigation into the land swap. It's been deciding whether or not to look into the matter since late August.
On Thursday, the force said it will not be providing any further comment or updates in order to "preserve the integrity of any ongoing investigation."
Ford has said he is confident nothing criminal took place.
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With files from The Canadian Press