NDP Leader Marit Stiles was ejected from question period after refusing to retract comments she made in a heated exchange over the Skills Development Fund.
Opposition Leader Marit Stiles was ejected from the legislature at Queen’s Park Wednesday after accusing the government of being “corrupt” in a heated exchange over the Skills Development Fund.
During the exchange with Labour Minister David Piccini, Stiles referenced donors and lobbyists connected to the government and “the endless grift of an anti-democratic and yes, corrupt government.”
House Speaker Donna Skelly then asked her to withdraw her remarks for unparliamentary language, but Stiles refused. Skelly warned Stiles, who would not relent and was then asked to leave the chamber.
She was then escorted out of the chamber, to applause from the opposition.
It should be noted that no quid-pro-quo has been proven and no charges have been laid in connection with the skills fund to date, though a forensic audit of one of the fund’s recipients has been referred to the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).
The government set up the $1.5 billion Skills Development Fund to retrain workers for in-demand professions, and added another $1 billion to the fund this year as part of its plan to bolster Ontario’s economy in the face of tariffs.
However a report from Ontario’s auditor general found the process for obtaining money through the fund was not fair, transparent or accountable. Despite receiving lower scores than other applicants, some companies were hand-picked by Labour Minister David Piccini’s office to proceed, the auditor found.
A CTV analysis found many of those winning applicants had ties to lobbyists connected to Premier Doug Ford’s office.
Piccini has for weeks faced calls to resign or to be fired by Premier Doug Ford over the ordeal. However Ford has continued to defend Piccini and the fund.