{"id":371894,"date":"2025-11-11T16:25:34","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T16:25:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/371894\/"},"modified":"2025-11-11T16:25:34","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T16:25:34","slug":"labour-minister-tells-ford-friendly-union-it-will-be-tapped-to-build-hwy-401-tunnel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/371894\/","title":{"rendered":"Labour Minister tells Ford-friendly union it will be tapped to build Hwy. 401 tunnel"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the Ford government<\/a> barrels ahead with a fresh feasibility study on whether a traffic-transit tunnel can be built under Highway 401<\/a>, Ontario\u2019s labour minister has already told a PC-friendly union that it would eventually benefit from the construction contract.<\/p>\n

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As part of the Fall Economic Statement, Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy announced the government allocated $9.1 million to WSP Canada Inc. to study the project<\/a>, including the length and potential cost of the congestion-relieving expressway.<\/p>\n

While the feasibility study could take more than a year to complete, it appears the Ford government has already promised Ontario\u2019s largest construction trade union that its members will be tunnelling under Highway 401.<\/p>\n

The Labourers International Union of North America (LiUNA), which represents thousands of workers in the civil and residential construction sector, has endorsed the Progressive Conservatives in two successive elections and, in the most recent election, opened its training facility for Ford to make a campaign announcement.<\/p>\n

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The union\u2019s various locals across Ontario have also received a total of $21 million in provincial funding since Ford took office in 2018 for a variety of training, education and rehabilitation funds. The annual amount allocated to the union has steadily increased each year, according to the province\u2019s data.<\/p>\n

Less than two months after the Ford government was re-elected to a third majority mandate, Labour Minister David Piccini visited a membership meeting for LiUNA Local 183 to reiterate the government\u2019s close links with the group.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019m here with a heartfelt thank you from Premier Doug Ford and our PC government,\u201d Piccini said at a podium. \u201cThank you from the bottom of our hearts for the support you gave us in the last election, thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n

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In a video of the speech, posted to Facebook, he added: \u201cWe\u2019ll continue to support you and your members. We\u2019ve got a tunnel we\u2019re gonna build, and I know who\u2019s going to build it. We\u2019ve got Highway 413 to build and we can\u2019t do it without you.\u201d<\/p>\n

The revelation comes as the Ford government weathers a new political controversy over the handling of the province\u2019s $2.5 billion Skills Development Fund.<\/p>\n

Ontario\u2019s auditor general determined the process of awarding millions of dollars in training funding was \u201cnot fair, transparent or accountable\u201d and that low-scoring applicants were routinely prioritized by Minister Piccini\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

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Global News has also revealed that directors of companies that received funding donated to the Progressive Conservative Party<\/a>, as did a company implicated in a major palliative care supplies shortage<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Toronto Star found<\/a> that groups that endorsed the Progressive Conservatives received more than $200 million from the fund, while The Trillium reported<\/a> the labour minister recently attended the wedding of a lobbyist, whose clients received millions from the fund.<\/p>\n

Critics of the Ford government have called it a \u201ccircular economy\u201d benefiting the Ford government and claim it amounts to evidence of a \u201cquid pro quo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGoing out and promising a whole bunch of friends something so they\u2019ll support you, so they\u2019ll donate to you, that\u2019s not how things are supposed to work,\u201d said Liberal parliamentary leader John Fraser. \u201cThere\u2019s no fairness.\u201d<\/p>\n

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