If you follow Ontario politics, you’ve probably heard about the Skills Development Fund (SDF).
The Trillium — Village Media's team of journalists at Queen's Park — has spent weeks digging into the controversial fund, and many of their scoops have been published on this local news site.
Their dogged reporting has revealed that some of the recipients of millions of dollars from the Doug Ford government’s marquee worker training program have close relationships with the government, leaders who’ve donated generously to the PC Party, and well-connected lobbyists.
These stories have been fuelled by freedom of information (FOI) requests.
Anyone can file an FOI request for records that are technically public, but not published. With some exceptions, Ontario’s public bodies must release those records — but they can also charge for the time it takes to find and prepare them.
Sometimes, they’re inexpensive. The FOI request that kickstarted our ongoing investigation, concerning a company that got millions and has multiple connections to Premier Doug Ford, only cost $142.50.
We’ve since found more connections between grant recipients and the PC party. We’ve filed more requests, including for emails and other documents concerning their SDF applications, just like we did for that first story.
These ones won’t come cheap.
For those five requests alone, the ministry has estimated it will cost us about $12,000. We’ve pursued ways to lower these costs, without luck.
And that’s why we’re asking for your help.
Contribute to the SDF Investigation
How this works:
We're collecting contributions of $10 or more. We’ve already paid the deposits — half the total costs — for the tier one requests, and if we hit the first-tier fundraising goal, we’ll commit to paying the final fee and publicly releasing the documents when we get them. We’ll do the same for tier two.
Tier One — $4,500
Social Equality & Inclusion Centre (FOI price quote: $851)
This non-profit has received about $10 million from the Skills Development Fund. It’s partnered with companies owned by Zlatko Starkovski on training programs at his club venue at Exhibition Place in Toronto. Starkovski has long been a “Ford Nation” figure, and his venue hosted a series of Progressive Conservative fundraisers around the time the SEI was first granted funding, and is now also home to a burlesque-themed nightclub owned by Starkovski.
Dentacloud (FOI price quote: $1,740)
This brokerage of dental practices was given millions of taxpayer dollars from the Skills Development Fund at a time when its CEO worked closely with the wife of the then-cabinet minister responsible for the funding program.
Keel Digital Solutions and LifeLabs (FOI price quote $2,070)
Labour Minister David Piccini went to the Paris wedding of the lobbyist for Keel Digital Solutions and LifeLabs after granting both groups money from the Skills Development Fund. Before he was Labour minister, he went to a Leafs game in glass seats with a director of Keel Digital Solutions. He later said he personally picked that company to receive a grant, despite it being scored low by civil servants.
Tier two — $11,500
FGF Brands (FOI price quote: $2,647.50)
Commercial baker FGF Brands received $1.2 million in the fourth round of funding for a staff-training program. The company also starred in a video series that the premier made to highlight Ontario businesses. Political donation records that match the names of the founding Ajmera family total more than $66,000.
Pace LAW (FOI price quote: $4,590.00)
This law firm was awarded nearly $3.3 million over two rounds of funding. It has a long and generous history of political donations to both the Progressive Conservative and Liberal parties, according to Elections Ontario records. The company's president and CEO was appointed chair of Metrolinx by the Ford government this summer, and the premier has referred to him as a “friend.”
Stretch goal
Any funds raised beyond the costs we need to pay for these records will be used for further FOI requests. We have filed others that are awaiting cost estimates, and more will follow.
Our commitment to you is to be radically transparent. Any documents paid for by this crowdfunding campaign will be released publicly, and any stories we publish about them will be free to read.
To kick that off, here are the results of two previous FOI requests:
- Here are lists of the recipients and funding amounts for rounds 4 and 5 of the Skills Development Fund training stream, which has underpinned much of our reporting;
- and here are the documents concerning that company from our first SDF investigation, Scale Hospitality.
Who we’re asking
We’re looking for contributions from readers and voters who value our reporting, and will refund any contributions from political parties or other politically involved groups.
This is your opportunity to help shine a light where it’s needed most.
Together, we can uncover how millions of taxpayer dollars are being spent.