THUNDER BAY – “A week after OPP raided government’s offices, Dalton McGuinty must provide Ontario families with clear answers about which ministries and agencies are under investigation, how many tax dollars have been compromised, and whether any Liberal political staff or consultants are involved,” states Lisa MacLeod, the Ontario PC Revenue and Government Accountability Critic.
Today MacLeod challenged Dalton McGuinty to confirm whether any of the officials under investigation were responsible for allocating funding under McGuinty’s so-called ‘stimulus’ plan.
“Given Dalton McGuinty’s historic $20 billion deficit, it is vital that Ontario families be informed whether so-called ‘stimulus’ dollars were funneled away from their intended purpose and towards potentially criminal improprieties,” added MacLeod. To that end, MacLeod is also calling on the government to confirm whether the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure are included in the current criminal probe.
“Every dollar that was spent on potentially unethical or illegal activities by these ministries and agencies was a tax dollar paid by Ontario families. Given Dalton McGuinty’s $20 billion deficit, it is also a dollar that our province cannot afford to lose,” MacLeod added.
“Dalton McGuinty cannot hide behind a criminal investigation. The Premier’s Office knows far more about this probe than they care to let on. If stimulus money was being misallocated as part of alleged criminal activity than it is the responsibility of the government, and not the police, to provide answers to the public about how this money was spent.”
The PCs are asking four questions that the party states the McGuinty Government must answer:
- What specific Government Ministries and agencies were raided as part of this criminal probe?
- What steps have been taken internally to protect the integrity of government services at these ministries in the aftermath of this police investigation?
- How many tax dollars were exposed to programs administered by officials currently under police investigation?
- Were any of the officials under investigation responsible for administering spending included in Dalton McGuinty’s $32 billion ‘stimulus’ plan?