Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he will reverse his government's decision to open the Greenbelt to developers, calling the controversial land removals a "mistake."

This announcement was made by Ford on Thursday afternoon after meeting with his party caucus at a resort in Niagara Falls earlier that day.

"They shared with me what they heard in their communities. I want the people of Ontario to know, I am listening. I made a promise to you that I would not touch the Greenbelt. I broke that promise. That is why I am truly sorry," Ford told reporters at a press conference.

Last month, Ontario's Auditor General, Bonnie Lysyk, issued a scathing report on the government's handling of the Greenbelt land removals. The report concluded that some developers received "preferential treatment" and had a direct influence on the government's decision to extract land.

The Premier also said that all land removed from the Greenbelt will be returned and he will work with the affected developers to move forward.

Ford added that the process of selecting parcels of land to be removed from the Greenbelt left "a lot of room for some people to take advantage of others."

Despite this reversal, Ford continued to emphasize that developing the Greenbelt "would have made a huge difference" regarding the housing crisis, adding tens of thousands of homes to the province's housing stock.

According to the Auditor General, of the 7,400 acres of land removed by the province from the Greenbelt, 92 percent of it can be linked to three developers who had direct access to the Ministry of Housing.

The report also noted that the fifteen landowners could see an increase of over $8.3 billion in their property values.

The report also found that there is already enough land available in Ontario to build the much-needed housing and that there is no need to remove land from the Greenbelt to achieve housing targets.

Ford's sudden pivot comes just one day after a second minister in the government was forced to resign following the Greenbelt scandal, as Khalid Rashid, Ontario’s Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery, resigned from his ministerial position and the Conservative Party caucus on Wednesday after records revealed conflicting accounts of a trip to Las Vegas that is being investigated as part of the integrity commissioner’s inquiry into Greenbelt land deals.

According to the integrity commissioner, Rashid and then-Premier's chief of staff Amir Masoudi stated they took a trip to Las Vegas in December 2019 and "exchanged pleasantries" with developer Shakir Rahmatulla in a hotel lobby. The former minister confirmed he is a friend of the developer, whose company FLATO Development is listed as the owner of two of the sites that were removed from the Greenbelt, but he said he was unaware that Rahmatulla would be in the area at that time.

Records now show that the minister actually took the trip in February 2020, with several hotel staff also confirming to CTV News Toronto that the three individuals received massages at the same time.

The minister's office said the trip was originally scheduled for December 2019 but was postponed due to scheduling conflicts. Staff claimed the original date was mistakenly shared with the integrity commissioner.

For his part, Rashid said he resigned to avoid being a distraction from the "important work of the government," adding that he looks forward to "taking the necessary steps" to clear his name.

The Prime Minister's office said that if the integrity commissioner clears Rashid, he would be "given the opportunity to return to the party caucus." He will sit as an independent until that time.

Rashid's resignation follows weeks after Ontario's Housing Minister Steve Clark stepped down after the Ontario's integrity commissioner resigned.