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Over months and months, Hillier says he’s received a “disproportionate” number of complaints about the building-approval process in Tay Valley and is merely doing his duty in bringing these to the attention of councillors and senior staff.

The MPP has at least twice sent his concerns via email to councillors or senior staff, had numerous phone conversations with various stakeholders in the industry and made a public presentation to council in June.

He was duty-bound to do so, says Hillier. Tay Valley, he told councillors, has three people in the planning department, yet was only able to approve eight new homes in 2016, far below the growth in neighbouring municipalities. Furthermore, he said players in the sector are afraid to speak up, making it doubly important that their MPP carry forward their concerns, without fear of retribution.

“Do the Building and Planning Department have an agenda beyond the spirit and intent of the law?” he asked during his presentation.

Well, someone had heard quite enough.

A complaint by at least one employee triggered the township’s internal anti-harassment policies, leading to the appointment of an independent lawyer to investigate.

Only days ago, Hillier was asked in writing to respond to a four-point complaint, including his suggestions that staff didn’t understand planning laws, were acting unjustly and had created a “culture of fear” among residents they are intended to serve. He’s flat-out refusing to co-operate with the investigation, calling it “a star-chamber” process.