Ontario’s Opposition leader is accusing the government of creating a “cash-for-access culture” and is asking the province’s integrity commissioner to look into an upcoming Progressive Conservative party fundraiser with the premier and transportation minister.
The fundraiser is billed as an evening with Doug Ford and Prabmeet Sarkaria, and tickets are selling for $1,000.
The Ontario Trucking Association has put out a “call to action” urging members to buy tickets and deliver a message to Sarkaria about cracking down on illicit operations.
NDP Leader Marit Stiles says cabinet ministers should not be fundraising off of people who have business in their ministry.
She wants the integrity commissioner to look at whether that fundraiser would put Ford or Sarkaria in a real or potential conflict of interest, or otherwise contravene the Lobbyists Registration Act, the Members’ Integrity Act, the Public Service of Ontario Act or parliamentary convention.
Attorney General Doug Downey says all political parties follow the same rules, and donation records are transparent so the public can scrutinize them.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 21, 2024.