News
Politics

Steve Clark Resignation: Falling on his sword, or future whistleblower?

Sep 4, 2023

Housing Minister Steve Clark finally saw the writing on the wall. Maybe.

Clark resigned today in a wordy letter to Premier Doug Ford, and to nobody’s surprise kept his seat in Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes.

Jesus, even his riding is a mouthful.

Clark’s office was ground zero for the allegedly corrupt process that enriched Ford’s wedding guests, through a conduit known as his daughter’s boyfriend, oops, I mean chief of staff. Ryan Amato already resigned, which Ford described as “accepted” before answering a reporter’s question about why he resigned with “you have to ask him.”

The real questions ahead will determine whether Clark was falling on a sword positioned conveniently by Ford himself, or if he can direct a molasses-quick RCMP to where the Greenbelt bodies are buried. And by bodies I mean bank accounts, and by buried I mean laundered.

If we were to speculate on the possible outcomes, provided the outcomes are truthful, we are left with only a few possibilities. Either Clark had knowledge and a direct hand in how Greenbelt investors were selected, or he was blindsided by a process that was being directed by someone else. In this case that someone else may or may not have been Ford (exaggerated wink) with Amato playing the role of Lee Harvey Oswald.

The third and nearly implausible scenario is that there was absolutely no rigged process and the fact that the benefactors happen to be guests at Ford’s daughter’s wedding is just a run-of-the-mill, incalculable coincidence.

Right now you can bet Clark is talking to an attorney and likely weighing his options, options that can only exist if he did something wrong. You don’t announce you’ve hired lawyers if no evidence exists. If he was completely innocent he would just sit there and wait for the real crooks to be caught.

Scandals like this trickle for years. Remember the gas plant scandal? From beginning to end that infamous scandal lasted 4 years before the Auditor General filed a report. Despite the Auditor General already weighing in on the Greenbelt Scandal, the ball is now in the court of one of the slowest public bodies in world history, the RCMP.

Not exactly cause for optimism when so much is at stake.

I’m sorry, I know this doesn’t sound all impartial, or unbiased, but everyone can read this with their eyes closed. The problem is that many of us have kept our eyes closed for years. Apathy is killing us. Low voter turnout is giving us what we deserve. Corrupt politicians are reading tea leaves with neon signs that tell them we are susceptible to not giving a fuck about corruption.

In this scandal, the media has to decide if they want to take on a provincial government, organized crime, wealthy corporations, and the terminally ill state of our discourse. Don’t hold your breath, but maybe call your local leader and demand answers.

And if she/he is not part of the governing party, demand they start yelling on your behalf.

Contributing Writers

Subscribe Now!

Which newsletters would you like to receive?

Yes! By providing my email address, I agree to receive communications from Crier Media (this can be changed at any time). Please take a look at the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use for more details.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Related stories