Doug Ford aide-turned Greenbelt lobbyist broke rules, ethics watchdog says

TORONTO — A lobbyist who used to work for Ontario Premier Doug Ford failed to comply with some rules while asking for clients’ land to be removed from the Greenbelt, the province’s integrity commissioner concluded Monday.

Commissioner J. David Wake laid out several instances in which he said Nico Fidani-Diker broke lobbying rules, largely in the course of lobbying work related to the protected Greenbelt lands.

Fidani-Diker failed to register after lobbying to try to get land removed from the Greenbelt and knowingly placed two public office holders in a real or potential conflict of interest by offering them tickets to a Toronto Maple Leafs game, Wake wrote.

“Mr. Fidani-Diker’s failure to register, failure to provide particulars and contraventions of the conflict of interest prohibition undermines the (Lobbyists Registration) Act’s purpose of transparency and public confidence in the independence of public sector decision making,” he wrote.

Fidani-Diker said in a statement that he never intended to be in non-compliance while lobbying.

“I accept full responsibility for his decisions and findings regarding my initial months as a registered lobbyist, when setting up my company three years ago,” he wrote.

Fidani-Diker faces no sanctions for the violations, and the leaders of both the NDP and the Liberals said that penalties such as a ban on lobbying should be considered.

Before starting his company, ONpoint Strategy Group, Fidani-Diker worked as Ford’s executive assistant and manager of stakeholder relations in Ford’s office and with the Progressive Conservative Party.

A 2023 integrity commissioner report into the now-reversed Greenbelt land removals found that the government’s process favoured certain developers, and the RCMP is also conducting a probe into the Greenbelt decisions.

That 2023 report detailed some of Fidani-Diker’s activities related to the Greenbelt and noted that in addition to Fidani-Diker working for the premier, he previously worked for Ford’s brother Rob Ford when he served as the mayor of Toronto.

“Mr. Fidani-Diker confirmed he has known Premier Ford for a long time, as their families are friends,” Wake wrote. “Mr. Fidani-Diker attended both the stag and doe and the wedding held for Premier Ford’s daughter in August 2022.”

NDP Leader Marit Stiles said the lobbying legislation needs to be strengthened.

“What’s really extraordinary to me is that despite the fact that this lobbyist has clearly broken these laws, he’ll be able to continue to lobby,” she said at a press conference.

“I’d like to know, who those connections are that he has, who the two…public office holders are that are referred to. It’s ridiculous that this person can continue to lobby. I mean, frankly, there needs to be teeth in this.”

Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie agreed that Fidani-Diker should face more than a “slap on the wrist” of having Wake’s findings published.

“This is a serious breach,” she said. “These are individuals who worked in the premier’s office. They well know what the rules are with respect to lobbying.”

The RCMP’s “sensitive and internal investigations” unit began a Greenbelt probe in October, but beyond the premier’s office confirming last summer that interviews were underway, there has been little indication of how close the Mounties may be to concluding their investigation.

Ford has previously said he is confident nothing criminal took place, but following a significant public outcry the premier reversed course and returned all parcels of land in question to the Greenbelt and promised not to touch it again.

The integrity commissioner’s 2023 report found that then-housing minister Steve Clark violated ethics rules, but said that he had no evidence of developers being specifically tipped off that the government was considering Greenbelt removals.

Largely, the actions of Clark’s chief of staff had the effect of alerting developers that a policy change was afoot, the commissioner found.

However, Wake said “it is more likely than not” that someone gave one developer a heads-up.

Ontario created the Greenbelt in 2005 to protect agricultural and environmentally sensitive lands in the Greater Golden Horseshoe area from development.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 31, 2025.

Allison Jones, The Canadian Press