The Office of the Integrity Commissioner of Ontario launching an ethics probe into Minister of Labour David Piccini regarding his involvement with the Skills Development Fund.
The news was announced on Thursday.
The NDP and the provincial Liberals have been calling for an investigation for some time over the Northumberland – Peterborough South’s handing of the 2.5-billion-dollar fund.
NDP Leader Marit Stiles issued the following release after the news was made public on Thursday.
RELEASE – Marit Stiles, Leader of the Official Opposition has issued the following statement in response to the Office of the Integrity Commissioner of Ontario launching an ethics probe into Ford’s Minister of Labour regarding his involvement with the Skills Development Fund:
“For seven weeks, we gave Ford’s Minister of Labour the opportunity to come clean about his involvement in the Skills Development Fund. Instead of being honest with the people of Ontario, he deflected, threw excuses, and even had the Premier defend him.
“The Ford government can’t help themselves – they keep treating the people’s hard earned tax dollars as their personal piggy bank. It shouldn’t take an ethics investigation to get some honesty from the government, but here we are.
“The truth will come out, and the people of Ontario will finally have the answers they deserve.”
In her initial complaint, Stiles called out preferential treatment for donors and insiders, the Minister’s close connections with low-scoring applicants who received millions in government funds, and issues of fairness and transparency that were raised by the Auditor General.
