03.26.2012 11:00 AM

CP report on stinking Ontario PC and ND hypocrites

Liberals trying to turn the tables on opposition over Ornge scandal

(Ornge-Opposition) TORONTO – Ontario’s governing Liberals are trying to turn the tables on the opposition parties over the Ornge scandal.

Government house leader John Milloy says both the NDP and Conservatives knew about the changes at Ornge that shielded public money from government oversight.

He says the NDP received a letter in 2010 about the organizational changes that allowed Ornge to create a web of for-profit entities that were owned by its senior officers.

Milloy says the Tories were briefed by Ornge on all of their operations last May.

…Milloy says the opposition didn’t sound the alarm either, despite their recent howls of outrage over Ornge.

10 Comments

  1. fred says:

    Blame the Cons. “In that model we could have had the Australians running the system,” said Smitherman, emphasizing he “inherited” Mazza from the previous Conservative government, which had begun consolidation of air ambulance services.” And blame Smitherman for setting it up.

    • Tim Sullivan says:

      No one is BLAMING the PCs. Minister Milloy is just pointing out hypocrisy and someone is briging it to your attention.

      Christine Elliott may want to defend Ornge (still or again) within caucus … or is she positioning herself for the pending PC leadership after the imminent coup (if the PCs were smart, that is.)

  2. billg says:

    I know this is a Lib blog and I do try to be respectful of that, and, I will be crucified for this, but, my goodness there are uncanny political similiaritys between Mr McGuinty and Mr Harper in respects to mini scandals and deficits. Both budgets this week cant come soon enough for either of them. The two of them have to be the newsmakers of the Decade.
    Feel free to pile on.

    • Warren says:

      Go get ‘im, folks!

    • SF Thomas, Ottawa says:

      Your probably right on being crucified for it.

      To offer my rebuttal the big difference between McGuinty and Harper with scandals is when something like this mess with ORNGE comes to light at least McGuinty actually tries to do something about the problem. McGuinty also basis his rebuttals in facts rather than making stuff up. To use this case as an example, the for profit parts of ORNGE have been wound down and the OPP is conducting an investigation. To make this even easier McGuinty has simply accepted the Auditor General recommendations about improving oversight and passed them into law with no complaints or trying to pass the buck. On another end and to be fair to her it is possible and even likely, Deb Matthews the health minister probably did not know about the mess at ORNGE given that the arrangement with ORNGE that existed before she was health minister shielded them from scrutiny.

      If I were to compare this to a federal Conservative scandal, say Tony Clement and Gazebo-gate there is no accountability nor is anything done in response by Harper and the Conservatives. Clement in that case knowingly used money from a G8 fund inappropriately for pet projects in his riding which had nothing to do with the actual summit. He met with municipal officials off the record and purposely avoided proper procurement rules so as to avoid leaving a paper trail. Given the facts of that situation there is no denying Clement improperly used the funds and tried to avoid accountability by leaving no record, so he should have at minimum had to resign and be barred from any cabinet post.

      To use ORNGE again in this scenario the McGuinty Liberals are pointing at the PCs and NDP had just as much opportunity to know about the situation at ORNGE over a year ago and did nothing to bring that to light. To compare the Harper Conservatives using say the F-35 file claimed, they had a contract written and signed so the F-35s were a done deal and were constantly ignoring the problems with the F-35s and were unwilling to consider alternatives for nearly a year. We now know the Conservatives had lied about the contract and have had to back track on the F-35 commitment slightly, and only after a year of evidence being shoved in their faces. They also tried to claim the Chretien/Martin Liberal gov’ts had committed to buying the F-35 when in fact they only contributed to research and development costs. McGuinty and the Ontario Libs used the truth while the Harper Cons lied through their teeth.

      On the fiscal front McGuinty started off in deficit and actually had two surplus budgets before the recession hit. Harper took a surplus he inherited into deficit before the recession. I will also note that McGuinty has always been relatively upfront with the actual fiscal status in Ontario. He has tried to put a positive spin on it, all politicians usually do, but he has never outright lied about or tried to hide the actual numbers and financial projects at the time. Harper outright lied about the country’s fiscal and economic situation after the economic crash in 2008, saying we were going to be posting surpluses and the global recession would not effect Canada at all. He kept up this line until he was forced to tell the truth by the threat of a coalition government. Oh and he lied all the way about how coalition governments are ‘treasonous’ or ‘losers cannot form coalitions’ (Meaning a second placed party cannot form a coalition with others to oust the first places party. This of course is hogwash, all it takes is a majority of MPs to support a government.).

    • Cameron Prymak says:

      Well you know I would have written sooner but since our city cut back on library hours and public transportation it’s takes me a lot longer to get to a computer. The Mayor said that there was too much gravy in the system and it was gummin’ up the works so we had to get rid of a lot of things to stay on the road to prosperity. Just as well I guess, what with the plant closing I haven’t needed the car as much.

      But my wife’s using it a whole lot more since she just got a job at a discount store in the next town. She has pretty far to drive every day but she’s a real trooper and even though the radio is broken she says she doesn’t mind. The long drive gives her time to reflect on life and our situation as such, especially as she turns 65 next month.

      But there’s no culture of defeat here, no siree let me tell you that. We’re going to move in with our kids and they live in what they call a ‘destination’ tourist location. They got loads of money to spruce up the portolets and new sidewalks and gazeebos and such – wow. That money seemed to come from nowhere and left just as fast but it made them feel better for a while especially since their plant closed. Most guys were giving it their best there too but that company told them the same thing we were told – we were all overpaid and we needed a pay cut.

      We were hoping for some support from the higher ups but before you knew it the companies shipped the jobs back to the States – lock, stock and barrel. We keep trying to contact the governments types but I guess they’re pretty busy too. I do remember one time when they flew in on a helicopter for a big opening or announcement or something. That was the last time I saw them. Maybe that gravy is gummin’ up their phones too?

      Anyway it’s good to know that our banks are strong, so strong you could make that a two syllable ‘strong’. I’m comforted by that thought each time I show up for a job interview. By my reckoning there must be gee 20 or so younger guys in front of me in every interview line and so I try to keep their spirits up too. I keep telling them that the banks are strong but most of them just turn away quickly. I think they feel a little ashamed that our Canadian banks are so strong whereas others have had a real hard go of it lately.

      I also let the guys know that Alberta has more oil than you can shake a stick at. I think the plan is for everyone to move out there but it may take a while as the housing market isn’t so good where we live.

      Sorry for ramblin on – what was your question again?

  3. billg says:

    Wow…that was painless. Do I get a T shirt or golf hat now?

  4. billg says:

    Quit suckin’ up SF Thomas. No one gave either a chance in hell of winning, they’ve both been media punching bags, they both had to borrow to survive, they both have had their share of Opposition fueled scandals, and, both of them have pretty much had their way with their respective opposition, although, Mr McGuinty hasnt reduced Hudak to third party leader yet, and I say yet. Oh, and both are still standing and I wouldnt bet against either one in the next election whenever that may be. If that aint similiar then what is.

    • SF Thomas, Ottawa says:

      Almost none of Harper’s scandals were fueled by the opposition, almost all of them he caused himself, the opposition just brought them up. Are you trying to claim he didn’t lie about our fiscal and economic situation in 2008? Or that the opposition somehow caused Clement to go on a spending binge with the G8 legacy fund without leaving a paper trail? You could convincingly argue a few might have been overblown, but the majority were actually serious problems Harper and the Conservatives caused on their own.

      As for claiming neither had a chance of winning, in the more recent elections actually the media never fully wrote either off. I’d actually say Harper got a light ride in the last election for a number of issues the media didn’t talk about beyond a day or so.

  5. billg says:

    Your a partisan SF, me not so much, so we could argue all day, I prefer to see the political brilliance at work. Don’t be such a hater and a downer.

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