Lawsuit accuses former Ford staffers of backchannel contacts in alleged rezoning scheme [Video]

A lawsuit alleging two former Progressive Conservative staffers offered to use “backchannel contacts” to help rezone land may have created an opening for opposition leaders to try and focus Ontario’s election campaign on past government scandals.

A statement of claim filed with a Toronto court makes allegations about Ryan Amato, who was chief of staff to Steve Clark when the Ford government briefly removed land from the Greenbelt, and Shiv Raj, who worked in the premier’s office.

The lawsuit alleges the two men, along with a company called Frontier Group, offered to help get rezoning approval for several parcels of land “using their backchannel contacts and political connections to facilitate and secure rezoning approvals for the Properties.”

According to the statement of claim, the men did not work seriously on the rezoning and instead allegedly undertook an “orchestrated conspiracy to defraud.”

The allegations, which have not been tested in court, were first reported …