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TORONTO \u2014 Premier Doug Ford defended the province\u2019s Skills Development Fund Friday in wake of a newly launched ethics investigation into Labour Minister David Piccini\u2019s dealings of that fund.<\/p>\n
Ontario Integrity Commissioner Cathryn Motherwell opened a probe into Piccini after the provincial Liberals and New Democrats alleged he breached ethics rules in handing out skills training funding.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know he\u2019ll co-operate with the integrity commissioner,\u201d Ford said of Piccini at an unrelated news conference in Buffalo, N.Y.<\/p>\n
Ford did not answer a question about whether he would fire Piccini.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to continue on training people and making sure we hit over a million people trained in the sector,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Media reports have said that some beneficiaries of the $2.5 billion fund are unions that endorsed the Progressive Conservatives in elections and people who have donated to the party.<\/p>\n
The auditor general also found that more than 60 of the lower-scoring fund applicants were approved after they hired a lobbyist, which had the opposition crying foul over what they called preferential treatment.<\/p>\n
Auditor general Shelley Spence found Piccini\u2019s office was heavily involved in selecting the recipients of training funds in a process she said was not fair or transparent.<\/p>\n
The Skills Development Fund gives money to organizations for projects that help hire, train or retrain workers. The province says they\u2019ve so far trained about 700,000 people and of those, 100,000 people found jobs within 60 days of completing the program.<\/p>\n
Piccini faced an onslaught of questions from the opposition over seven weeks at Queen\u2019s Park this fall, though he refused to resign and Ford refused to fire him.<\/p>\n
Motherwell\u2019s office said it will determine if Piccini violated the Members\u2019 Integrity Act.<\/p>\n
The anti-rackets branch of the Ontario Provincial Police has also opened an investigation into a company that received funding from the provincial government and was also connected to the controversial Skills Development Fund.<\/p>\n
Keel Digital Solutions, a software company that provides a platform for mental health care, has been receiving funding from the Ministry of Colleges and Universities for student mental health.<\/p>\n
In November, the Ford government asked the OPP to investigate the company after a routine audit two years prior identified \u201cirregularities,\u201d the premier\u2019s office said at the time.<\/p>\n
A routine audit led to a forensic audit and the result of that forensic audit led to a review of the company. Keel Digital Solutions has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, saying it has complied with all laws and honoured all contractual obligations.<\/p>\n
Both the Liberals and New Democrats renewed their calls Friday for Piccini to resign or for Ford to fire him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think that he can continue in this role given what emerged in the auditor general\u2019s report,\u201d said New Democrat Leader Marit Stiles.<\/p>\n
She said Ford should have fired Piccini long ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s very clear lines here between the minister of labour and donors and lobbyists who are connected to the premier, to the minister of labour, friends and family,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Liberal ethics critic Stephanie Smyth called the fund a \u201cpersonal piggy bank\u201d for the government.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Doug Ford lacks the spine to fire David Piccini, I am calling on the minister to step aside now,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe should not be anywhere near round six of the Skills Development Fund because this is just the tip of the iceberg.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a92025 The Canadian Press<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n