Allison Jones, The Canadian Press

TORONTO — The RCMP has started interviewing witnesses in its investigation into the government's decision to open up parts of the protected Greenbelt for housing development, Ontario Premier Doug Ford's office said Friday.

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 RCMP's "sensitive and internal investigations" unit began a Greenbelt probe in October, and the premier's office now says interviews are underway. The Mounties have not asked for an interview with Ford, his office said.

Ford, speaking at an unrelated announcement in Thunder Bay, Ont., said his government is co-operating with the investigation.

"We have nothing to hide," he said. "Come in and do whatever you have to do ... let's get going on it."

Reports from both the auditor general and the integrity commissioner found that the government's process to remove 15 parcels of land from the Greenbelt to build 50,000 homes favoured certain developers.

The auditor general found that more than 90 per cent of the land removed from the Greenbelt was in five sites passed on to then-housing minister Steve Clark's chief of staff by two developers he met at an industry event. The property owners stood to see their land value rise by $8.3 billion, the auditor found.

The integrity commissioner found that Clark violated ethics rules, but said that he had no evidence of developers being specifically tipped off that the government was considering Greenbelt removals. However, Wake said, "it is more likely than not" that someone gave one developer a head's up.

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

Clark resigned from cabinet shortly after that report was released, but spent less than a year in the political penalty box, as Ford named him the new government house leader, a prominent but non-cabinet position, in June.

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

(C) The Canadian Press