7,000 problems
And a scoop on Janet Ecker's double whammy
ABOVE THE FOLD
Premier DOUG FORD is set to face reporters today after a thick stack of FOI documents revealed another housing headache: that political staff, including those in his office, had a heavy hand in now-reversed urban boundary changes. But first — we’ve got a scoop on JANET ECKER’s ouster.
SCOOP — WALK THE PLANK — Ford is tightening up the Tory ranks amid Greenbelt fallout, and I’ve confirmed that Ecker, a former Harris-era minister, was booted from not only the Metrolinx board, but Invest Ontario, too.
Her crime: An op-ed criticizing the PCs on their handling of the Greenbelt and their “internal culture.” Officially, it’s part of a “refresh” at the agencies. Unofficially, Ford is clamping down on dissenters as he deals with fallout from L’affaire Greenbelt.
Ecker isn’t alone. There’s been loads of staff turnover at Invest Ontario, the two-year-old agency that’s focused on securing business investments for the province.
Sticking around the Metrolinx board is DEB HUTTON, the veteran Tory operative and PC fixer who’s volunteered to help weed out potential conflicts-of-interest and the Greenbelt aftermath. Catch up.
DOCUMENT DUMP — That 7,000 pages of FOIs peeling back the curtain on municipal boundary changes which multiple PC MPPs previously told me was coming has landed — fuelling theories that the revelation prompted the reversal on Official Plan changes. Here’s what you need to know.