In the early 2000s as the battles over the Oak Ridges Moraine were raging, the provincial government made a deal with developers to exchange provincially-owned land for the disputed "environmentally sensitive" land.
So there is historical precedent, if a similar arrangement is what the company negotiated with the province in order to "Save" Glen Abbey.
https://web.archive.org/web/20070701164023/https://www.mah.gov.on.ca/Page326.aspx
North Pickering Land Exchange
As part of Ontario's strategy to protect environmentally sensitive lands on the Oak Ridges Moraine and ensure permanent greenbelt protection, the province is exchanging lands it owns in North Pickering for privately owned lands in Richmond Hill and Uxbridge.