QUEEN’S PARK – In Premier Ford’s own words, sole-sourced contracts are all about the government “filling their buddies’ pockets full of money.” Yet, his Conservatives are refusing to tell Ontarians why they decided to hand over ServiceOntario operations to big box American-owned retail stores like Staples and Walmart through sole-sourced contracts.
“If the Conservatives had actually made this decision with the interests of everyday Ontarians in mind, they would have no trouble explaining why they didn’t open it up to a competitive bid,” said MPP Tom Rakocevic, Official Opposition NDP critic for Consumer Protection. “With every new piece of information, it seems that the Premier is right – and that this is all about ‘filling their buddies’ pockets full of money’ than ensuring Ontarians have fair access to essential government services in their communities.”
While Minister McCarthy attempts to justify this decision by citing taxpayer savings, so far, the Conservatives have tried three different savings figures to justify this move. He claimed it was $900,000 over three years, while the Deputy Premier claimed it was $1 million a year, and in a previous statement the Minister noted it would be $1 million over three years.
“This decision clearly has nothing to do with saving taxpayers' money, and everything to do with finding a way to give public dollars to private corporations... leaving ServiceOntario operators and workers in the lurch.”