It appears to me from today's testimony that DM led Villada along, bit by bit, pulling him deeper into 'business' until he'owned' him to a certain extent. Villada's source of income, his transportation, his home, and many of his family's incomes all relied on him staying on DM's good side and doing DM's bidding.
And far from being partners in a reno business (as Villada apparently believed they were), it sounds as though DM actually ran the business but used the rather naive and overly-trusting Villada to avoid his responsibilities as an employer (such as income tax, CPP, EI, WSIB). Seems like the setup was that DM would pay Villada as an independent contractor, and then Villada would pay the others, which would make Villada appear (to CRA/WSIB) to be the employer and so the responsibilities for paying taxes, CPP, EI, WSIB, etc would have become Villada's responsibility (apparently unbeknownst to him).
Villada's confusion about the back taxes owed, and his belief that DM was taking care of that end of the business, suggests that DM was just stringing him along, exploiting him and misleading him. As for the pie-in-the-sky idea of building homes on the Ayr farm, I think this was just more of DM's manipulation of Villada - holding out promises of a big pay-off in the future. There was no evidence presented when the building official from the township testified about any planning applications for any such development - and that kind of residential development in an agricultural area is highly unlikely to ever receive approval anyway.
All one more example of DM's manipulation and exploitation of those who are less worldly than him, and intrigued by his apparent wealth.
All MOO.