Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles described Premier Doug Ford's latest scandal in provocative terms and threatened to take her to court if he disagrees.
Standing outside the Ontario Legislative Chambers, Stiles called the premier “corrupt” and claimed the premier was focused on making government-funded deals “that only benefit his friends on the inside.”
“This is a corrupt government,” Stiles charged. “This is a corrupt prime minister.”
Stiles pointed to the recent Greenbelt scandal, which saw 7,400 acres of protected land opened to development in 2022, primarily benefiting developers suspected of having inside ties to government.
After months of investigation, Ontario's auditor general revealed that developers received “preferential treatment” in a politically driven process after Premier Ford directed his housing minister to “codify the process for exchanges, expansions, contractions and policy updates for greenbelts.”
Stiles also said the ongoing RCMP investigation into the Green Belt deal, the prime minister's use of a personal cellphone, the prime minister's chief of staff's use of Gmail to conduct government business and the battle with the information and privacy commissioner to keep government records from public view were all evidence of “absolute corruption.”
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Although Ontario's integrity commissioner determined that the Green Belt land expropriation saga was primarily due to “procedural flaws” and a lack of ministerial oversight, he pinned the blame on political staff and absolved the premier's office of responsibility.
Despite this, Styles stands by his comments and has called on the Prime Minister to take legal action.
“You know what? He wants to sue me. So go ahead,” Styles directly challenged the Prime Minister to take her to court for defamation.
While Styles' comments were not politically surprising, the location where she made them could land her in legal trouble, as MLAs are not protected by parliamentary privilege outside the legislative chamber.
“The privilege protects legislatures from legal liability for speech they make in the course of their duties, allowing them to hold the executive branch accountable without fear,” attorney Dennis Grigoras wrote in an article about the MPP privilege.
“Parliamentary privilege is not unlimited, however. For example, speech made outside a privileged forum may expose a member of parliament to legal liability,” Grigoras wrote.
However, Stiles said she welcomed the lawsuit so the public can learn more about the Greenbelt scandal during the disclosure process.
“Come on out,” Stiles said. “We'll see what we can get out of these lawsuits.”
Global News reached out to the prime minister's office for comment early Thursday afternoon but had not received a response by press time.
However, the prime minister insisted that “no one can influence the Fords.”
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