As Premier Doug Ford fends off criticism that the Progressive Conservative government is engaging in cash-for-access fundraisers, Global News has learned that one transportation industry association is telling its members to purchase multiple tickets to a party event to “deliver one clear message” to the premier.
The Ford government has been on the defensive after it was revealed that cabinet ministers were given fundraising targets for the remainder of 2024 — a request that came directly from the PC Party’s chief fundraiser.
On Tuesday, Premier Doug Ford defended the practice, saying fundraising is a normal part of pre-election politics.
“We gotta raise money to run an election, just like the Liberals and NDP,” Ford told Global News during an impromptu interview at an unrelated event.
In the legislature, Attorney General Doug Downey has been called upon by the party to defend accusations of cash-for-access levelled by opposition politicians. While Downey denied the claim, one group appears to have a different view of the Ford government’s fundraisers.
The Ontario Trucking Association recently posted an online appeal to all of its members to purchase tickets to an upcoming fundraiser featuring Premier Ford and Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria.
Tickets to the Vaughan-area fundraiser, which Ford and Sarkaria are expected to headline, are selling for between $1,000 and $3,375 per ticket.
The trucking association, which has raised concerns about an “underground economy” in the trucking industry and non-compliance with provincial laws, appealed to its members to “get involved politically” in order to push for a favourable outcome.
“Premier Ford and Transportation Minister Sarkaria will be hosting a small, relatively exclusive fundraiser,” the association’s president said in a public announcement on its website.
“I am imploring all of you to attend and raise our concerns with the minister directly.”
The goal, the association said, was to sell at least 50 to 60 tickets in order to “turn this event into an OTA member trucking event,” and send the Ford government a message.
“Our industry supports your government, and we need your government to bring order to our sector,” the association said in its appeal.
The industry group also encouraged members who purchased tickets to the PC Party fundraiser to alert the association “so that we can tally up what our association has raised and present to the minister.”
“This is the only way to win this battle,” the association president said.
The Ontario Trucking Association told Global News that while members were “encouraged” to attend the political event, it was “based on our own accord” and that the association “did not speak to anyone in government about this event.”
“We are very supportive of this government and the initiatives they are taking to make life better for truckers in this province. This is our way of showing continued support,” the association said in a statement.
A spokesperson for Sarkaria said the government “had no involvement in this.”
At Queen’s Park, the Ford government faced political heat during question period after the NDP likened the situation to the former Liberal government’s cash-for-access scandal in 2016 when cabinet ministers were given specific dollar amounts to fundraise.
“Isn’t this just another example of your ministers cashing in on their connections while the people of Ontario have to fight to be heard,” NDP Leader Marit Stiles charged.
Downey dismissed any association with the 2016 cash-for-access scandal, saying ministers were only told to hold two to five fundraisers, but that there was no directive on the guestlist.
“It doesn’t say who to invite, it doesn’t have what amount,” Downey said of the instructions from PC Party fundraiser Tony Miele to cabinet ministers.
“This isn’t anything like the cash-for-access the Liberals got into.”