FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
7 May 2026
QUEEN’S PARK, ON. — Today, MPP John Fraser, Ontario Liberal Interim Leader, issued the following statement regarding Metrolinx’s settlement over air rights with Craft Development Corporation and Carmine Nigro:
It is almost unbelievable, but then again, we’re talking about the Failing Doug Ford Conservative
Government. A government so known for helping friends and donors at every turn that Ontarians can’t even be surprised anymore. But this story is especially disheartening.
Ford’s close insider Carmine Nigro, a billionaire developer tied to the Greenbelt scandal, launched a dispute against Metrolinx seeking up to $500 million over air rights his company had not even fully purchased. According to public reporting, the deal for those rights had still not closed before Metrolinx stepped in and expropriated them.
And despite that, Metrolinx quietly settled. They won’t say how much taxpayer money changed hands, but they settled all the same in a secret deal involving air rights that were never actually owned.
And let’s look at who Carmine Nigro is. He was handpicked by Doug Ford to serve as Chair of the LCBO, appointed to the Board of Invest Ontario, and named Chair of the Ontario Place Corporation. He also previously served as a Vice-President of the Ontario PC Fund. He was sitting at Doug Ford’s table at his daughter’s wedding. You could not paint a clearer picture of someone deeply connected to this Premier and his inner circle.
And Ontarians have every right to ask questions about how this all started. In 2018, Nigro’s company entered into an agreement to acquire these air rights. Years later, Metrolinx expropriated them, and now the government has secretly settled a massive lawsuit tied to those same rights. That timeline raises serious questions about who knew what, and when.
Now we must ask: did the Premier direct Metrolinx to settle? Did he prioritize getting his friend the best deal possible, instead of protecting money that should be going toward improving transit for Ontarians? How much was the settlement?
With Doug Ford, it’s always the same story: insiders get richer while accountability disappears. You can bet that this government will drag their feet on revealing how much the settlement amounted to, or they’ll just keep pushing it off on Metrolinx. They will do everything possible not to be called out on this.
But we’re listening. We can see the patterns. We will investigate, even if we can’t use our right to FOIs to do so. The truth will be uncovered.