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A troubled affordable housing project in Clarington has sparked a dispute between a former mayor known as "Mr. X" and the current mayor over an allegation of leaked confidential information.
It began at a council meeting last week, when Clarington Mayor Adrian Foster said he was concerned to learn that details of a confidential report that had been discussed in a closed session "were somehow made available to members of the public."
He asked the city solicitor to confirm this, who did, and explained that someone had contacted the city's Realtor and disclosed "knowledge of those confidential negotiations."
The solicitor then named John Mutton — the former mayor of Clarington who now runs the development services firm Municipal Solutions — and a person he's working with as the recipients of that information.
Foster said this was "deeply concerning."
"This is serious. This is millions of dollars of taxpayers' money and negotiations," he continued, addressing whoever "leaked," "disclosed" or "misplaced" the city's confidential report.
However, the town is now declining to comment on the matter, citing the threat of a lawsuit, and Mutton denies being on the receiving end of a leak.
He released a letter on social media demanding a retraction and public apology for the "recent defamatory and irresponsible remarks."
"Should you fail to comply within the stated time frame, I will not hesitate to initiate formal legal proceedings against you in your personal and official capacity," he continued.
Mutton has also told his side of the story on Instagram.
He identified a property at Spry Avenue and Baseline Road West in Bowmanville, and said he represented a group that was trying to buy it from the municipality, but had been beaten out by another "preferred bidder" by $2 million. The municipality, he said, is now trying to get the province to pay for some $1.7 million in site remediation for that "preferred bidder."
He learned of all this, he said, because that bidder had approached his group with the information in the process of seeking financial backing — not through a city council leak.
"So the true leak is Clarington staff negotiating lowering the price for this preferred bidder with the preferred bidder, who is obviously trying to put his finance and other things together, and talk to people in the industry, of which they talk to us, we found out about the bid," he said.
"It's as easy as that, and I don't know what's going on with the mayor," he said, and wondered aloud if the mayor had "Napoleon syndrome" or an "anger management problem."
"Anyway, that's it," he added, signing off, "John Mutton, 'Mr. X,' out."
Mutton was given the handle "Mr. X" by the province's integrity commissioner, who said in his report on the Ford government's Greenbelt scandal that he was investigating a potential unregistered lobbyist, whom he could not name due to the rules governing his office. The Trillium and other outlets confirmed that Mutton was "Mr. X" — a moniker he has since embraced. He's denied any wrongdoing, but earlier this year, he was given a two-year lobbying ban.
Meanwhile, Foster has not apologized, Mutton said in a later update.
"Give your heads a shake, like, I've seen people with more blood in their brain after I've just done choking them out in the IBJJF fight circuit," he added, referring to the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation matches he competes in. "Think about it, boys, you're your own leak."
A spokesperson for Mayor Foster would not comment, citing the legal threat.
It's unclear what the future holds for the site.
The town has been planning an affordable housing project on it for years, and the province granted the site a Minister's Zoning Order (MZO) last fall to enable the development of an 84-unit affordable housing development.
Despite that, the proponent of the project, Habitat for Humanity GTA, said the plan fell apart and it is no longer involved.
"Despite our best efforts, we were unable to secure all the necessary planning approvals required for this project," said spokesperson Johnny Keogh in an email.
"Habitat GTA stepped back in the fall of last year, prior to the finalization of the MZO, as we were unable to secure the planning approvals at that time, and it became apparent to us that the cost of construction on the site was too high and funding was not available."
Asked whether the province will revoke the MZO if the plans for the development deviate Habitat's plans for affordable housing on the site, a spokesperson for the Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs and Housing (MMAH) didn't directly answer.
"The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing expects our partners to utilize Minister's Zoning Orders to get shovels in the ground faster and if there is no progress toward building, the Minister's Zoning Order can be subject to review," said press secretary Alexandra Sanita.
Neither MMAH nor the Environment have received a request for funding for site remediation there so far, according to the province.
This article was updated to correct a typo by the Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs and Housing's spokesperson.
