Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Opposition parties not MIA after all

The headline is rather misleading on this one, but the contents are encouraging - OPP to investigate provincial grants for multicultural groups in Ontario - Post:

Ontario opposition parties yesterday called for a police investigation into $32-million in provincial government grants given to multicultural groups over the past two years. The Conservatives and New Democrats have written to OPP Chief Commissioner Julian Fantino, pictured, asking for an investigation into what they called "financial misconduct" by political officials in awarding the grants...
I don't see anything in this report to confirm that Julian Fantino has actually agreed to an investigation. However, something should be done.

Just like the Mulroney-Schreiber inquiry, new evidence has emerged and it warrants investigation.

Unless this isn't a democracy anymore, here in Ontariostan.


* * * *
More from the Sun - Fraud Squad Requested:


"It remains unresolved as to whether in pursuit of these political goals, criminal activity has occurred," Runciman and Kormos say in their request to Fantino.

Premier Dalton McGuinty denied yesterday playing any role in the UJA grant...

NDP MPP Peter Kormos made this observation:
"The auditor general himself implied very clearly that there were a whole lot of unanswered questions," Kormos said. "A matter of this magnitude, involving senior public officials, warrants a consideration by skilled police investigators to determine whether or not a criminal investigation is called for."

I couldn't agree more.

Ottawa Citizen - Opposition demands probe into $32M in provincial grants.

Excellent interview with Julian Fantino on CHML - via Caledonia Wakeup Call. Click on Jan. 16 'Audio'. (For some reason it only works in Explorer).

He discusses the request by the opposition parties for an investigation about midway through the clip. Sounds like he'll be talking to the Auditor General.


8 comments:

Anonymous said...

this is exactly what should have been happening all along.

I found McGuinty's response to the allegations on Global news last night very flippant and arrogant.

Good for the opposition!!! Both of them!!

Joanne (True Blue) said...

Yup. Together they're a credible force. Maybe both parties should amalgamate.

;)

Anonymous said...

don't laugh - I wish my MPP were Peter Kormos, or Bill Murdoch....either of them are way better off the cuff than Mr. Tory I'm afraid. They represent the average Joe and are very easy to relate to.

maryT said...

Isn't this amount of money a lot more than 300,000. that Brain got, from private money, not taxpayer funds. If liberals though scandal was behind them they are wrong.
Adsam in Que, grants in Ont, what liberal govt is next. Guess AB doesn't have to worry. Are Que and Ont liberals affiliated with the Federal liberals.

Joanne (True Blue) said...

don't laugh - I wish my MPP were Peter Kormos, or Bill Murdoch

I'm not laughing. I feel the same way. Mine is Liberal. (Ugh)

Joanne (True Blue) said...

Isn't this amount of money a lot more than 300,000.

Mary, that's what I was thinking!

McGuinty would like nothing better than to sweep this under the rug. This is an area that McCarter was not allowed to look at though.

"The auditor's report was not an investigation of civil or criminal wrongdoing. Rather, it was a quick and narrowly scoped review that confirmed financial misconduct," said NDP justice critic Peter Kormos.

(From the Citizen link on the update to this post)

Anonymous said...

It appears all the focus in Colle-gate has been the grants to the Jewish club and/or the Cricket Club. What about the grants to Villa Charities that AGWN (Steve Janke) blogged about and Sobara's/ Fantino's/Zacardelli's connections to that charity? (Sorry can't find the links at AGWN)

Joanne (True Blue) said...

Sobara's/ Fantino's/Zacardelli's connections to that charity?

Interesting. Thanks. I'll have to check that out.