Liberal seek ruling from Integrity Commissioner on distribution of training dollars
The provincial Liberals have asked the province’s Integrity Commissioner to investigate the Labour Minister’s handling of the Skills Development Fund.
MPP Stephanie Smyth says they want to know if he violated parliamentary integrity rules.
“This is not just about who the Minister is friends with. The issue is whether he used his public office to benefit those friends and clients in ways that may have broken the law,” says Smyth.
The opposition has been calling for David Piccini to step down or be removed as Minister since the Auditor General determined the distribution of the funds was not fair or transparent.
More than half of the money went to projects that ranked low or were aided by lobbyists.
Piccini later admitted in media interviews that he elevated certain projects because of their importance to Ontario’s economy.
In announcing their request for an investigation, the Liberals used a whiteboard to draw connections from the Labour Minister to various lobbyists.
“It’s a visual that helps show the web of connections. Lobbyist Michael Rudderham, a long-time personal friend of Minister Piccini, secured more than $8.5 million in public funding for his clients through his program, including $7.5 million for Keel Digital Solutions and $1.2 million for LifeLabs,” Smyth.
“Rutterham’s lobbying registrations for both companies were active when these funds were approved. Minister Piccini personally intervened on Keel’s application, a project public servants had ranked poorly, and then he later admitted that his office overruled internal evaluations to fund lower-scoring projects that aligned with government priorities.”
Piccini attended the same lobbyist’s wedding in Paris when the Auditor General released her findings.
“Ontarians deserve better. They expect the public dollars will help workers and employers, not donors and insiders,” says Smyth.
The NDP has also asked for a similar investigation by the Integrity Commissioner into Piccini’s attendance at the Paris wedding.
