Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Housing Minister Steve Clark address the media following the release of the Auditor General's report on the Greenbelt, August 9, 2023

Premier Doug Ford says he has full confidence in his housing minister.

The Premier addressed questions from the media at Queen’s Park about the controversy over the Greenbelt in southern Ontario.

An Auditor General’s report released earlier this month identified the process to be flawed and favouring certain developers.

It also pointed at Housing Minister Steve Clark’s Chief of Staff for making most of the recommendations on which lands should be removed from the Greenbelt that Cabinet eventually approved.

The Chief of Staff resigned this week.

Ford would not disclose the reason behind the departure.

He is not concerned about a potential RCMP investigation either but would cooperate if one takes place.

“If they do, I take it very seriously. Extremely serious. And I’ll have zero tolerance if there is any nonsense going on,” says Ford.

He also repeated a commitment to implement fourteen of the fifteen recommendations brought forward by the Auditor General but has no plans to waver on his party’s housing strategy.

“We need a wartime effort…We need to get these homes built. And if not, we’re going to have people sleeping in the streets. We’re going to have people in tents, we’re going to have people in church basements. That’s my whole mission here. My whole mission is to give homes to people that they can put a roof over their heads,” says Ford.

The opposition continues to call for Clark to be removed from his position.