Ontario’s new housing minister has apologized to developers for the province’s handling of the greenbelt scandal, the Toronto Star reported, .

In his apology, Paul Calandra included developers who were slated to build projects before Premier Doug Ford abruptly backtracked on plans to remove parcels of land from the Greenbelt for rental-housing development. The Greenbelt is a Southern Ontario protected zone in which development is prohibited.

Calandra issued the apology to hundreds of developers at a recent Building Industry and Land Development event in Woodbridge, Ont. He singled out developer Silvio De Gasperis, who had property returned to the Greenbelt.

De Gasperis has owned the land since 2002, three years before the Greenbelt was created, Neil Wilson, a lawyer who represents the developer and his company TACC Developments, told the Star.

The province had proposed to remove 3,000 acres from the Greenbelt. The RCMP is investigating the government’s moves as part of that plan.

Calandra announced in September that the province will not compensate developers who had land returned to the Greenbelt.