Ontario’s Integrity Commissioner has launched an investigation into Ontario Labour Minister David Piccini, 680 NewsRadio has learned.
The inquiry is related to the selection of applicants to the Skills Development Fund Training Stream.
In a letter obtained by 680 NewsRadio, Commissioner Cathryn Motherwell said she made the decision to investigate following separate requests submitted by NDP Leader Marit Stiles and Liberal MPP Stephanie Smyth, claiming Piccini may have contravened sections 2, 3, 4, 6 and 16 of the Members’ Integrity Act. Those sections deal with conflict of interest, insider information, influence, gifts, and procedures on conflict of interest as it relates to the program.
The commissioner added that as part of the investigation, witnesses may be compelled to testify.
Opposition parties at Queen’s Park have been calling for Piccini’s resignation following a recent Ontario auditor general report on the Skills Development Fund, which it said was not “fair, transparent or accountable.”
The auditor found that Piccini’s office has been heavily involved in selecting projects that get funded under the $2.5-billion skills training program and has doled out money to applicants ranked low by bureaucrats without documenting why.
The auditor also found that more than 60 of the lower-scoring applicants were approved after they hired a lobbyist, which has the opposition crying foul over what they call preferential treatment.
Ford has resisted calls to fire Piccini, with the minister touting the benefits of the fund, saying it has helped thousands of people find jobs.
Stiles says she hopes “the truth will come out” as a result of the investigation.
“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,” Stiles said in a statement released late Thursday.
In a separate statement, Smythe said the investigation is the first step in “getting to the bottom of the rot within the fund.”
“The Premier and his government are using the Skills Development Fund to reward well-connected insiders, donors, and lobbyists,” said Smythe. “At a bare minimum, the Minister should step aside while the investigation is ongoing.”
Files from The Canadian Press were used in this report
