Ontario’s labour minister is unrepentant in the face of scandal as opposition parties called on Premier Doug Ford to fire David Piccini over the government’s handling of the skills development fund.
The province’s auditor general raised concerns over how the government’s signature $2.5 billion skills development fund has been meted out, slamming the process as “not fair, transparent or accountable.”
The auditor revealed the Minister of Labour’s office was intimately involved in decision-making and distribution of the fund, that low-scoring applicants were often prioritized over higher-scoring applicants and that some applicants were successful after they hired lobbyists connected to the Progressive Conservative party.
As MPPs returned to Queen’s Park, however, the minister showed no signs of backing down on how he handles skills development fund, in spite of opposition claims that the government has turned the program into a “slush fund” that benefits party insiders.
“We’re never going to apologize for making those investments in those workers,” Piccini said. “This is about sides. It’s about whether you will support workers by creating opportunities for jobs.”
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Since the auditor’s report was released, the government has been facing increasing questions about why lobbying firms — whose owners have direct ties to the PC party — and unions that endorsed Ford in the last provincial election received hefty sums of money from the fund.
“The auditor general has uncovered that more than half the money in the Skills Development Fund went to lower-scoring projects, which constituted more than half of the projects. Hundreds of millions of dollars were awarded to companies who were either friends, donors or lobbyists that were connected to the government,” said Liberal MPP John Fraser.
“Does the premier believe that the government is his own personal piggy bank to reward insiders and well-connected lobbyists?” Fraser asked during question period.
Ford, asked several times whether he would oust the minister, refused to answer the query during question period and, instead, allowed Piccini to defend his own actions.
In a media scrum after question period, Piccini also suggested that while his office is working to implement the recommendations of the auditor general, his office has no plans to eliminate the minister’s ability to intervene.
“When it comes to advancing government priorities, we have a $200 billion imperative to ensure we have construction workers supported in the skilled trades that ensure we have those pipelines and those pathways,” Piccini said.
“We work with our officials in that discussion … the auditor general said we have to advance government priorities. We have to make sure we have construction workers on job sites,” Piccini added.
NDP Leader Marit Stiles said while her party “believes in the skills development fund,” the government has been treating it like a “minister’s slush fund.”
“The government is still under criminal investigation by the RCMP (for the Greenbelt decision making),” said Stiles. “What is it going to take for this government to get the message that this government’s resources are not their personal piggy bank.”
