Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he still has confidence in his labour minister as the new year begins with an integrity commissioner investigation into David Piccini over how he handled the controversial skills development fund.
Partway through December, the integrity commissioner accepted opposition requests to investigate whether Piccini had broken ethics rules in how he selected applicants from the $2.5-billion pot.
Both Piccini and the premier’s office have said they will cooperate with the investigation. On Monday morning, Ford gave his backing to the funding stream and his labour minister.
“I have confidence in him now and we’re cooperating with the integrity commissioner,” Ford told reporters. “It’s a great program, we’re going to continue moving it forward.”
Accepting there may have been some issues that needed to be addressed after an auditor general report, Ford added: “I’ll stand by that program all day long.”
The auditor general previously revealed that companies that retained lobbyists had been able to secure funding despite having low or medium-scoring applications, and that the majority of high-scoring applications were rejected.
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Opposition parties have, for months, been calling for Ford to fire Piccini or for the minister to resign over the controversy.
While Piccini has acknowledged that he intervened in the process, overruled civil servants who ranked applications and personally selected projects for funding, the minister has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
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Both the NDP and Liberals are calling on the minister to recuse himself from overseeing the next round of funding as the government considers which applications will receive more than $250 million in Ontario taxpayer funds.
“If Doug Ford lacks the spine to fire David Piccini, I am calling on the minister to step aside now,” Liberal MPP Stephanie Smyth previously said. “He should not be anywhere near round six of the Skills Development Fund, because this is just the tip of the iceberg.”
NDP Leader Marit Stiles echoed that sentiment, saying deserving recipients might be unfairly tainted with the scandal because of Piccini’s involvement.
“I don’t think it’s helping anyone to have him there,” Stiles said after the investigation was announced. “Everything he touches right now is going to be associated with this scandal.
While the timeline for the investigation remains unclear, the integrity commissioner has wide-ranging powers to conduct an investigation, including interviewing people under oath.
The ethics watchdog is also expected to use Section 33 of the Public Inquiries Act, which grants the office the power to summon witnesses and produce evidence.
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