The Toronto Star And the OLA on the Bedbug Issue

[mikeedwards]

Back in 2007, Mike Colle had to resign as a minister in the McGuinty government for handing out millions to Liberal run groups and supporters.

This is his first attempt to get back into the media on something positive leading up to the provincial election in 13 months.

Grits eye return of $32.5M in grants
By BRIAN GRAY, SUN MEDIA
July 28, 2007

Mike Colle's replacement will be in charge of finding out if any of the $32.5 million he handed out inappropriately should be returned.

Premier Dalton McGuinty said he was leaving it to newly minted Citizenship and Immigration Minister Gerry Phillips to determine if any of the money can be repaid.

"I've asked him to get back to me as soon as he can," McGuinty said yesterday.

On Thursday, Auditor General Jim McCarter issued a scathing report saying Colle failed to provide transparency and accountability when handing out grant money because he wanted to get the money out the door quickly.

The Ontario Cricket Association asked the government for $150,000 and received $1 million, McCarter found. It still has about half that money in the bank.

OCA president Mike Kendall said the cricketers were bowled over when they got the excess money but are using it appropriately and shouldn't have to give it back. "We are acting responsibly," Kendall said.


http://www.thestar.com/News/article/207745
Liberals defeat motion for auditor to probe grants
April 26, 2007
Tobi Cohen
Canadian press

Frustration over the governing Liberals' decision to use their majority to stop the auditor general from investigating $20 million in last-minute grants doled out to multicultural groups brought the legislature to a standstill Thursday as the opposition waited for the minister to show up and account for his government's actions.

The kind of hooliganism usually saved for soccer arenas swept across the legislature as critics took to banging on desks and stalling question period in protest that neither Premier Dalton McGuinty nor Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Mike Colle were around to answer questions.

The protest came hours after a Liberal-dominated legislative committee voted down an opposition motion to have the province's auditor examine how $20 million in grants were handed out to various multicultural organizations – some of which are said to have Liberal ties – at the end of the last fiscal year without a formal application process.

"This is about taxpayers' money being given out without application forms, without scrutiny, without review, without any process at all," Conservative Leader John Tory said outside the legislature after two of his members were thrown out during the ruckus.

"It doesn't matter who it was given to – it's the way it was given out that's the issue here. You have to ask yourself what are they hiding? What are they afraid of when they won't let the auditor take a look at it?"

The Liberals instead passed a motion urging the beneficiaries of the grants to account for their spending and to report back within six months, drawing further criticism from opposition members who suggest the timing is "convenient" given a report likely won't be ready until after the Oct. 10 election.

"It just smacks of a McGuinty government that has been caught doing something very wrong," NDP Leader Howard Hampton said.

"Now they are just desperate, desperate to avoid any accountability, any scrutiny, any transparency until after the election."

But Colle said the auditor has the authority to look at any ministry it wants, and the issue will come before another committee for debate next month.

"It was this government that expanded the powers of the provincial auditor general," Colle said in the legislature. "That office can look at any ministry any time it wants."

The opposition parties shouldn't be questioning the legitimacy of the groups that benefited from the so-called slush fund, Colle said, adding he was late because he was visiting one of them to quell concerns over the controversy.

But both Hampton and Tory suggested the battle, which has monopolized government business for the last week, will wage on until something is done about it.

"This is an issue which will not go away because it's not just one case of money that was apparently handed out to an organization that was closely tied to Liberal politicians, it's more than one," Hampton said.

"I think you're going to find more people coming forward and talking about the lack of transparency, the lack of accountability, the lack of standards and rules and how this public money was just used wrongly."

The grants were given to groups with apparent Liberal ties and without a formal application process. Critics also questioned how an animal welfare and baseball group qualified for funds aimed at helping new immigrants settle into the province.


I never did hear about any outcome or investigation.

[Skitter]

recarnaval......you said regarding landlords:

So unless you see yourself as being the one to spend a few bucks, pay to get rid of the bedbugs and remove and buy your tenants new furniture then you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem!

With all due respect your comment is incredibly niave.

Firstly, spraying for BB's can cost a small landlord THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS per incident! This is because all the apt in the building have to be sprayed at the same time, or bugs will be driven into uninfected areas.

And next month a tenant can bring in MORE bugs, it will never end!

Let me get this straight..........

a tenant brings bugs into the apt building. You want me to pay for the spraying of the bugs and you want me to pay for all the tenants furniture and if i dont then IM the problem???

You absolutely must understand this........(and i am not being disrespectful to you), if you want good landlords to continue providing decent apts at low rents, tenants MUST be a part of the solution.

I have been attacked here many times and i used to invite activists to my apt building so they could see I am not a monster and that I do treat my tenants well and my apts ARE a good deal. I do not have to be a landlord in ontario. I can and will sell to someone who really does not care about their tenants if people like yourself continue to make unfounded attacks.

I am sick and tired of the lack of responsibility some tenants show.

Other LL's such as myself will also get out of the business and then you will have REAL problems and i guarantee you, the city and prov govts will not be able to handle the remaining housing mess.

[Hawk]

Non-landlords simply don't get it. Put up too many barriers and make it impossible to make a profit...we move on to something else.

I can't wait to sell and am simply looking for better opportunities because I don't want a huge slab of bank in my wall safe.

[Hawk]

Toronto politicians are all over each other trying to get tenant votes. I believe many of the corporate landlords are just too cheap to play the game and fund good wannabe politicians over the Chris Sellors of the world.