Canada's Political, Justice & Police System: Corrupt!

No request to alter Valeri's permit
Building application approved before land purchase
By Steve Buist
The Hamilton Spectator(Jan 19, 2006)
Liberal cabinet minister Tony Valeri told the federal ethics commissioner he bought his neighbour's property to accommodate a new house he was going to build across the two lots.

But planning agencies say they have no record Valeri ever attempted to amend his building plans to reflect the acquisition.

In fact, a planner with the Niagara Escarpment Commission said the way Valeri structured the purchase of his next door neighbour's property would have actually made it more difficult for the Liberal MP to build a home straddling two properties.

Valeri, Liberal MP for Hamilton East-Stoney Creek, purchased the property next to his home on Ridge Road in upper Stoney Creek for $225,000 on April 29, 2005.

The purchase was recorded with the federal ethics commissioner's office as a recreational property by Valeri, which meant it wasn't subject to public declaration as part of the MP's filings.

Three months later, Valeri sold the property for $500,000 to the son of a prominent businessman with ties to the Liberal party.

Valeri has told The Spectator he bought the property next door because he intended to build a new home that would straddle both lots. After talking to his builder, he said he decided to sell the property when he learned it wouldn't be needed to accommodate his new house.

But records show he knew well before the purchase that he didn't need the land. Conservative MP Jason Kenney has now asked the ethics commissioner to investigate Valeri's land flip.

In particular, he wants an investigation into how the property could have increased in value so sharply in such a short time and how a next door lot with a 1950s-era bungalow could be designated a recreational property.

The MP did not reply to an extensive list of written questions submitted by The Spectator yesterday.

To build a home, Valeri required a building permit from the City of Hamilton and a development permit from the Niagara Escarpment Commission (NEC). Valeri applied for a building permit in May 2003 to construct a 2,700 square-foot home on his existing Ridge Road lot.

He also applied for an NEC development permit in May 2004 to build the new home on his existing lot.

The application included site plan drawings showing where the house would be located on the lot, as well as a sketch of the proposed home. A spokesperson for the City of Hamilton's building department said there is no record of any attempt by Valeri to amend his building permit application before or after it was issued to take into account the purchase of the adjoining property.

A planner with the NEC also said there were no amendments to Valeri's building application. The property on Ridge Road falls within the Niagara Escarpment Commission's control.

Both the City of Hamilton and the NEC said there was nothing about Valeri's application that prevented him from building the proposed home on his existing lot or that would have forced him to acquire more property.

"Nothing was ever brought to his attention that this wasn't going to work," said Martin Kilian, a planner with the NEC.

"It was a straightforward, met-all-criteria application all the way through."

In fact, Valeri was informed before he bought his neighbour's property that his building application for the existing lot had been approved by the NEC.

The Niagara Escarpment Commission issued Valeri a development permit to build the house on his existing property on Feb. 17, 2005 -- two months before Valeri purchased his neighbour's lot.

However, the building permit from Hamilton for the existing lot was not issued until three days after he acquired his neighbour's property.

On April 27, 2005 -- two days before Valeri purchased the next door property -- ownership of Valeri's existing family home was transferred from Tony and his wife jointly into the sole ownership of Valeri's wife.

Valeri then purchased the next door property in his own name. That kept the two adjoining properties distinct from each other, instead of becoming one parcel. Under Ontario's Planning Act in cases such as this, an adjoining property that is purchased by the same owner automatically becomes merged with the original property.

For someone wanting to build a house straddling two properties, a merged property in the name of the same owner is almost a necessity.

In the case of the NEC, Kilian said, a merged property would actually have been a requirement if Valeri had wanted to build across the two lots.

The disadvantage of a merged property is that selling off one of the pieces would require the owner to apply for a severance, which can be costly, time-consuming and carries no guarantee of success.

"Once you merge, then you would need to have the rules of severance in your favour if you ever wanted to separate those properties," said Kilian.

"In this case, the rules of land severance would not be in favour of a reseverance."

But Valeri's decision to keep the properties distinct meant no severance was required when he sold the next door property three months later.
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