Marit Stiles’ NDP tackle Ford’s corruption crisis with new bill to strengthen integrity laws

QUEEN’S PARK – The Official Opposition NDP has tabled the Cleaning up Corruption Act as a step towards restoring ethics and accountability to Queen’s Park.

“Ford’s Conservatives have eroded Ontarians’ trust in their government – from the Greenbelt grab to speculators buying tickets to Ford’s family functions to corrupt planning policies that benefit land speculators – the lack of accountability is stunning,” said Marit Stiles. “Ford repeatedly prioritizes the interests of wealthy insiders and land speculators over everyone else. I’m proud to be leading our Ontario NDP team as we restore trust and accountability to Queen’s Park.”

The Cleaning up Corruption Act will be debated on November 30.

“Ford has been taking advantage of the loopholes regarding preferential treatment in our integrity laws and putting the needs of his friends and wealthy insiders above everyone else,” said MPP Chris Glover, NDP critic for Democratic Reform. “With Doug Ford’s Conservatives under RCMP criminal investigation, it’s clear that our integrity laws need to be tightened. We need to put an end to Ford’s preferential treatment.”

Quick Facts:

The Cleaning up Corruption Act implements recommendations from the Auditor General (AG) and Integrity Commissioner (IC) to strengthen Ontario’s integrity laws, including:

• Empowering the IC to launch their own investigations, with expanded scope
• Strengthening the Member’s Integrity Act to prevent MPPs from acting in a way that furthers their own personal interest or could reasonably be perceived to further an individual’s personal interest, or that of their extended family
• Preventing preferential treatment by MPPs through the Members’ Integrity Act, a standard already in place at the federal level
• Amending the Auditor General Act to help the AG access information during an audit (Ford blocked the AG from accessing information in the audit of Laurentian University).