Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Ontario Labour Minister and MPP for Northumberland—Peterborough South David Piccini, and the provincial government continues to face questions regarding the Skills Development Fund.
Opposition parties continue to focus most of their questions on findings from a recent Ontario auditor general report on the Skills Development Fund, which she said was not “fair, transparent or accountable.”
One of those questions asked on Tuesday was related to Loyalist College and the suspension of its culinary arts program.
This was brought up by Rob Cerjanec, the Ontario Liberal Party MPP for Ajax and critic for Economic Development & Innovation; Tourism, Sport & Culture.
“Businesses in the hospitality and tourism sector in Prince Edward County and the Canadian Armed Forces rely on the highly skilled graduates from this program. In Picton, the Royal Hotel has nine alumni from Loyalist College working there,” Cerjanic said to the speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario during a session on Tuesday.
“Speaker, can the premier explain to young people and local employers in the Bay of Quinte why millions of dollars were handed out through the Skills Development Fund like a slush fund to reward insiders, while Loyalist College can’t even afford to keep its culinary programs open?”
Cerjanic went on to call for the resignation of Piccini as Ontario’s Minister of Labour, request more funding for colleges, and called on the premier to “fix the Skills Development Fund.”
The Minister of Colleges and Universities, Nolan Quinn, responded speaking to investments the province made in colleges and universities as well as investments into the public sector.
“I think what that member opposite needs to know is that the federal government made many unilateral changes that have affected post secondary right across the whole country. Ontario is not alone in the rebalancing that is taking place right now,” Quinn said.
“So what I would recommend is that member opposite phone his federal counterparts and ask them why they’ve messed up the post secondary institutions right across all of Canada.”
In a response, Cerjanic said that the culinary arts program was primarily enrolled in by domestic students, not international students.
“Now I know the story of many young people from the Bay of Quinte area who can’t afford to travel all the way to Toronto to enrol in a culinary program. What does the premier expect those students to do?” Cerjanic asked.
“Where does the province expect hospitality businesses in the county to recruit their staff from? mShould they go to Wednesday’s fundraiser with the Minister of Labor to get in line for the next round of the Skills Development Fund? Premier, you say that government should be run like a business. Well, if this was an actual business, you would have fired the Minister of Labor a long time ago. Will you do it now?”
Ontario’s Minister of Labour and MPP for Northumberland—Peterborough South, David Piccini, says he has meetings coming up with the president and CEO of Loyalist College Mark Kirkpatrick as well as the coordinator of the culinary arts program Karin Desveaux.
“They’ve actually benefitted from the Skills Development Fund, Loyalist College, and we’ve sat down to try to find solutions,” Piccini told the speaker.
“Maybe that member would actually be interested in joining me to sit down at a table to find solutions rather than this sort of mud-slinging. Speaker, we’re going to stay focused on empowering those workers.”
The auditor, Shelley Spence, found that Piccini’s office has been heavily involved in selecting projects that get funded under the $2.5-billion skills training program and has doled out money to applicants ranked low by bureaucrats without documenting why.
All three opposition parties are calling on Premier Doug Ford to ask for Piccini’s resignation.
Ford and Piccini are resisting that call, with Piccini touting the benefits of the fund, saying it has helped thousands of people find jobs.
With files from the Canadian Press
