Ontario Premier Doug Ford is defending the funding process that saw one government ministry give money to a company even after another ministry identified “irregularities” that are now being investigated by the police.
The government asked the Ontario Provincial Police last month to look at the results of an audit on Keel Digital Solutions relating to funding they have been receiving for years from the Ministry of Colleges and Universities for student mental health services. The police said Monday that they have now launched an investigation.
The company has been the subject of testy debate at the legislature over the past several weeks, as a recipient of the province’s $2.5-billion Skills Development Fund from the Ministry of Labour.
Labour Minister David Piccini’s office gave the company about $7.5 million over two rounds of funding, even though bureaucrats gave the application a low ranking. Opposition critics have cried foul that Piccini is close friends with Keel’s lobbyist, which was reported by various media outlets. The critics say he should have recused himself from the file.
Ford continues to stand by Piccini, despite constant calls from the opposition to fire him.
“As I’m concerned, that SDF has gone to a lot of good people,” Ford said, vowing that Piccini will remain labour minister.
“We’re going to keep driving the economy and protecting communities and their jobs.”
The government says a routine audit connected to Keel’s funding from the Ministry of Colleges and Universities raised concerns in 2023.
“That process identified irregularities that led to a comprehensive forensic audit of the organization in question,” the government has said in a statement.
The matter was referred to the OPP within 24 hours of receiving those forensic audit results, and payments to Keel were stopped, the government said.
Critics say the company should not have been receiving skills development funding while under forensic audit for a different source of government funding, but Ford said that it’s not appropriate to cut off funding until an audit has concluded.
“We cut off the funding as soon as (we got) the results,” he said. “You don’t cut it off until you get the results. You don’t presume someone’s guilty right away.”
The company says it strongly believes it has complied with all laws and contractual obligations.
“We welcome the OPP and will be completely transparent and cooperative,” Jay Fischbach, chief operating officer, wrote Monday in a statement.
“We look forward to the government’s apology at the end of this, and we remain focused on facilitating mental health supports for the province’s most vulnerable communities.”
NDP Leader Marit Stiles said the system is not working if Keel continued receiving money despite the 2023 audit raising concerns.
“The minister of labour has admitted that he handpicked that same company after bureaucrats had already ranked them low, had already raised red flags,” she said.
“The audit was already underway. I think it defies belief that the minister of labour had no idea that there was anything to be suspicious of.”
