After Ontario backtracks on landfill study, Liberals seek probe into donor links
The Ontario Liberals are asking the integrity commissioner to investigate the province's decision to backtrack on an environmental assessment of a massive landfill expansion project backed by Progressive Conservative donors.
The Liberals want the integrity commissioner to look at whether Premier Doug Ford's government gave the project special treatment because its developers are lucrative donors to his party.
The government is opting to cancel the assessment it had previously ordered for the project in Dresden, a rural farming community in southwestern Ontario, as part of a controversial omnibus bill making its way through the legislature.
The government ordered the assessment last summer, citing the community's concerns about the proposed landfill expansion, just weeks before it called a byelection in the local riding where the PC candidate campaigned against the expansion.
Get daily National news
Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy
Environment Minister Todd McCarthy now says the province can't afford to keep shipping a large share of its waste to the United States, suggesting Ontario is facing a landfill capacity 'crisis.'
Story continues below advertisement
The Liberals fired back by suggesting the government was leveraging the U.S. trade war to push through policies to benefit insiders at the expense of transparency and accountability to local residents.
York1, the company behind the project, is seeking to revive a dormant landfill about a kilometre north of Dresden and expand it by more than 30-fold to service waste from across the province.
The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Details of the developers' donations and lobbying efforts were first reported by The Trillium, a Queen's Park-based news outlet, and were cited by the Liberals in their letter to the integrity commissioner.
The Trillium reported executives at the companies and their family members had donated about $200,000 to the PCs since 2018.
The Canadian Press has corroborated some of those political contributions recorded in a public Elections Ontario database.
The integrity commissioner confirmed it was reviewing the Liberal request.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Ottawa Citizen
21 minutes ago
- Ottawa Citizen
Raises, retention bonuses promised for Canadian Forces personnel
Article content Pay increases for military personnel as well as retention bonuses and increased training allowances for particular Canadian Forces members are to be part of the government's spending boost for defence. Article content In addition, it is expected that around 1,400 new staff will be hired at the Department of National Defence. Article content Article content The initiatives were outlined Monday during a technical briefing that followed Prime Minister Mark Carney's announcement that defence spending was being significantly increased. The Liberal government noted that it was pumping in more funding so Canada will meet the NATO spending target of two per cent of GDP by the end of this fiscal year. Article content Article content Carney repeated his election promises to purchase new submarines and other equipment as well as improve military housing and benefits. Article content 'Members of our armed forces will get a well deserved salary increase, which will contribute to better recruitment and retention of personnel,' said Carney. Article content But defence officials at the technical briefing had few answers. Article content They did point out that not only will there be pay increases but in some cases boosts in training allowances and retention bonuses for key military personnel. They did not have information on what specific Canadian Forces jobs or trades would be eligible for bonuses. Article content More health-care workers will be hired for the Canadian Forces and the civilian workforce will be expanded so military personnel can focus on operations, government officials said at the technical briefing. Under government-imposed rules, the officials who provided the briefing cannot be identified. Article content Article content In January, the Ottawa Citizen reported that military staff were recommending retention bonuses to keep key personnel from leaving the ranks. But there were questions at the time about whether the government would fund such a plan. Article content Article content Although the Canadian Forces doesn't currently have retention bonuses, the military does offer various extra pay or allowances for those in particular jobs or handling specific duties, the Department of National Defence has noted. In addition, the military does provide extra payment to recruit individuals with particular skills. Article content Various western militaries, facing personnel shortages, have been using retention bonuses to entice individuals to continue to stay in the ranks. Article content On Nov. 22, 2024, the British government announced bonuses equivalent to $54,000 for aircraft engineers who sign up for an additional three years of military service. Privates and lance corporals who have already served four years would be eligible for a new retention bonus, which is the equivalent of $14,000.
Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Unresolved questions require independent commission
Opinion Manitoba's ethics commissioner, Jeffrey Schnoor, recently released a report in which he concluded that former Progressive Conservative premier Heather Stefanson and two of her former cabinet ministers violated the province's conflict-of-interest laws after losing the 2023 election. They were accused of breaching the rules in an effort to approve the controversial Sio Silica sand mine during the short 'caretaker period' before the new NDP government was sworn in. Schnoor found that their actions 'lacked ethical and constitutional legitimacy,' but failed to identify what motivated them to act so recklessly. He says he found no evidence that any of the them acted for personal benefit but, if that wasn't the reason, why did they do it? MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Then-premier Heather Stefanson and finance minister Cliff Cullen announce the 2023 budget to media. Columnist Deveryn Ross says it's time to have an independent commission examine PC spending decisions. That's just one of many serious questions still swirling around the former government. Last week, Finance Minister Adrien Sala asked auditor general Tyson Shtykalo to investigate what went wrong with Manitoba Public Insurance's Project Nova technology project. MPI abandoned the program two months ago after a review estimated that total project costs had soared from $107 million to $435 million. The project was initially justified as an upgrade of MPI's digital capabilities, which would enable Manitobans to renew or amend their auto insurance and driver's licences online. It would also provide 'seamless connectivity' between MPI and repair shops. That was the hope back in 2020. Five years later, however, MPI Minister Matt Wiebe describes the program as a 'waste of taxpayers' money.' Where did all that money go, and why did MPI keep spending it? In April, the Kinew government asked Shtykalo to investigate an (almost) $100-million taxpayer-funded contract to build daycare facilities throughout the province. It alleges that the project, in which the province partnered with a company named JohnQ Public Inc., 'may not have followed normal provincial or municipal procurement practices.' Specifically, the government claims the contract enabled the previous government to funnel $2.8 million to Boom Done Next, a company owned by Marni Larkin. Larkin was the campaign manager for the Tories' 2023 doomed re-election campaign. How does a company earn almost $3 million on such a project? Two weeks ago, a CBC report revealed that the previous government gave an $18 million grant to JohnQ Public days before the 2023 provincial election was called. There was no public announcement of the funding, which was reportedly for a large land purchase in the RM of Ritchot to develop a proposed 'Winnipeg regional rail port.' Why the secrecy and rushed timing of the grant? In February, at a debate between PC Party leadership candidates Obby Khan and Wally Daudrich, Kahn alleged that Daudrich was the party's top donor for 12 years and accused him of receiving 'licensing permits up north under the table' from the previous government. Daudrich's company, Lazy Bear Lodge and Expeditions, first received approvals to operate off-road vehicle tours near Churchill in 2004. The total number of permits for all tour operators in the coastal plain of the Churchill Wildlife Management Area was limited to 18 between 1984 and 2020. Five years ago, however, the former Tory government reportedly approved two additional permits, both of which were awarded to Lazy Bear. Did Khan have inside knowledge that permits were improperly issued to Daudrich's company, or was his accusation simply bluster in the heat of the moment? There is no evidence that anybody acted improperly in these instances, let alone illegally, but there are many questions and few answers. Weekday Evenings Today's must-read stories and a roundup of the day's headlines, delivered every evening. The Kinew government and many Manitobans are counting on the auditor general to expose and explain the questionable conduct of the previous government, but their hopes may be overly optimistic. That's because Shtykalo has significant discretion as to which matters he chooses to investigate, and his office has limited resources. Even if he decides to review the issues referred to him, more than a year could pass before any reports are issued. That's neither good enough nor fast enough. The better, more efficient course of action is for the government to appoint an independent commissioner to investigate the many unresolved issues, and to give that commissioner the power to compel testimony and gather evidence if necessary. Manitobans deserve to know the truth. An independent commission is the best path to those answers. Deveryn Ross is a political commentator living in Brandon. deverynrossletters@ X: @deverynross
Winnipeg Free Press
2 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Premier blasted for changing stance on pipelines
PREMIER Wab Kinew is defending his government's support of a proposed pipeline to Hudson Bay amid a wildfires crisis, arguing a trade war with the U.S. has changed the province's economic course. Chris Wiebe, former vice-president of the Manitoba NDP who ran unsuccessfully in the 2023 provincial election, said Kinew's message during the run-up to the campaign was clear — pipelines were not an option for the government. 'There was no discussion of pipelines other than Wab Kinew stating at an all-candidates' meeting in 2022 that that's where his line in the sand was: no new pipelines,' Wiebe said in an interview Monday. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES Premier Wab Kinew is defending the NDP's decision to support a proposed pipeline to Hudson Bay, arguing a trade war with the U.S. has changed the province's economic course. 'Other than that, then there was no discussion.' Wiebe lost to Progressive Conservative incumbent Bob Lagasse in Dawson Trail by about 500 votes, but the NDP went on to form a majority government. 'The province is burning and we're talking about building pipelines up north, and I just don't see how a New Democratic Party can be discussing that,' said Wiebe, who resigned from the executive and the party earlier this year. 'All Manitoba NDP candidates in the 2023 provincial campaign were told that we cannot be pro-pipelines and run for the party … But with the province burning, here we are,' Wiebe wrote on social media Saturday. The post came after the premier told reporters a day earlier that his government would consider a pipeline to carry oil or gas to Hudson Bay. The province has been battling a wildfires crisis for weeks, with more than 20 communities evacuated amid a provincial state of emergency. Kinew didn't deny changing course on pipelines and paraphrased an English economist whose ideas influenced governments during the Great Depression of the 1930s. 'I'm a big fan of John Maynard Keynes and his famous quote, 'When the facts change, you know, you change your opinion on something.' Right now we're in an economic war that's been provoked by the Trump administration and it demands that we work together to build Canada,' he said after an unrelated news conference Monday. Last week, Kinew met with Prime Minister Mark Carney and his fellow premiers and territorial leaders in Saskatoon to discuss nation-building projects, including how to get natural resources to tidewater to ship overseas, rather than relying on the U.S. as a trading partner. 'In our goal to create a 'have Manitoba' instead of our traditional 'have-not' status, I think it's time that we entertain serious investments in northern infrastructure investments in the port. I think there's a way that we can do that while maintaining our leading status as being a climate-friendly jurisdiction,' Kinew said Monday. Wiebe, a University of Winnipeg chemistry professor, said he's remained a 'social democrat' but said his principles no longer align with the Manitoba NDP. The Canadian Press Files Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew, left, talks with Prime Minister Mark Carney during the First Minister's Meeting in Saskatoon last Monday. 'They run a very progressive platform with few details, but they govern more as conservatives — where we're seeing that is they kept the Tory tax cuts, health care is in a shambles, our education system isn't doing great and we're talking about building pipelines. So I have issues with that,' said Wiebe. Tuesdays A weekly look at politics close to home and around the world. Wiebe said the party doesn't have much input in policy change. 'It's all coming from the premier's office and we're informed which policies are being accepted. I think that most Manitoba NDP members would not be for pipelines, for example.' Kinew and the NDP continue to be popular with Manitobans. The most recent Free Press-Probe Research poll in March found the NDP has the support of 64 per cent of voters. The non-profit Angus Reid Institute's quarterly approval ratings released March 25 had Kinew in second place among Canada's premiers, next to Newfoundland's Andrew Furey. Carol SandersLegislature reporter Carol Sanders is a reporter at the Free Press legislature bureau. The former general assignment reporter and copy editor joined the paper in 1997. Read more about Carol. Every piece of reporting Carol produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
