Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock MPP Laurie Scott has been under fire the past week or so after it was found she engaged in text messaging with a lobbyist who tried to influence minister’s zoning orders (MZO)’s for two developments the lobbyist was getting paid to push forward.
Even worse, it appears Scott asked the lobbyist, John Mutton, to get the people her government helped to buy tickets to a partisan fundraising event.
Terrible optics.
The lobbyist got a slap on the wrist for 12 breaches of the Lobbyist Registration Act. It all came out when a publication called TheTrillium, which covers Queen’s Park, released an integrity commissioner’s report into Mutton’s wrongdoings.
The late J. David Wake, in a Jan. 29, 2025, report, found Scott and Mutton “clearly communicated in an effort to move forward the provincial decision to make an MZO.” He further said Mutton contravened the law by placing Scott in a position of potential conflict of interest.
It should be noted that Scott turned over the texts to Wake. Further, in his report, the commissioner did not make any formal rulings about Scott’s conduct or that of any other government officials mentioned in the report, as that was not the point of the investigation. The commissioner also didn’t make any definitive determinations about whether Scott played a meaningful part in either MZO getting approved.
Asked about the controversy, Scott issued the exact same statement to The Highlander as she had The Trillium.
“My office received an MZO request that had endorsement from the municipality. The MZO followed the process established by MMAH [Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing] and was subsequently approved. All information on donations and donors is publicly available.”
She did not answer questions such as: if she had attempted to influence both MZOs; why she used her relationship with Mutton to sell tickets for a partisan political event; or how this may be perceived as shady by her constituents.
And yet, we know from her texts that after passage of the MZO, Scott messaged Mutton on Feb. 2, 2023, to ask, “do you think you could get a couple of your people especially the ones we just helped to buy a few tickets for March 2nd event. They have to go thru my portal so I get credit.”
We know Scott wasn’t the only member of the Doug Ford government to be examined as part of the integrity commissioner’s work in light of the Greenbelt scandal.
It may be true that the municipalities in question had endorsed the MZO request. And it may be true that a process was followed and the MZOs were approved. But there appears to be a whole lot missing between the lines.
Do we think lobbyists routinely text MPPs and ministers of the Ford government? Yes. Do we think some lobbyists break the rules? Yes. Do we think this is indicative of the type of thing that goes on at Queen’s Park?
We know the controversial 2022 decision to remove protected Greenbelt land from environmental protections, projected to benefit connected developers by an estimated $8.3 billion – was reversed in 2023. However, the extent of what went on behind-the-scenes is still leaking out.
NDP leader Marit Stiles rose in the legislature last week about the issue. She has requested the current integrity commissioner investigate Scott. Stiles indicated the apparent help for fundraiser tickets – shortly after an MZO approval – appears transactional and undermines public trust.
We don’t feel this is an unreasonable request. What’s required is answers, not statements. How can this not undermine County constituents’ trust in their elected representative?
