NDP leader Marit Stiles has asked Ontario’s ethics watchdog to investigate the actions of a lobbyist who invited Labour Minister David Piccini to his luxury wedding in Paris.
As The Trillium first reported, lobbyist Michael Rudderham represented two clients who received millions of dollars from the Skills Development Fund (SDF) — a labour ministry program the auditor general found used a selection process that’s “not fair, transparent or accountable.”
Rudderham and Piccini are friends. Earlier this month — just days after Auditor General Shelley Spence released her report — Piccini attended Rudderham’s wedding at the five-star Four Seasons Hotel George V, a short walk from the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower.
“I am writing to ask you to investigate whether lobbyist Michael Rudderham may have placed a public office holder in a real or potential conflict of interest, contrary to section 3.4 of the Lobbyists Registration Act,” Stiles wrote in her letter, sent this week to the office of Integrity Commissioner Cathryn Motherwell.
In a statement last week, Piccini’s office said: “Minister Piccini travelled to Europe for a long-planned private family trip. While abroad, he attended a wedding. Expenses associated with both were paid by him, and he stayed at a different hotel than where the wedding took place.”
After Stiles' complaint to the Integrity Commissioner went public, Piccini's office said in another statement that “the minister is committed to transparency and will co-operate with any process that may be initiated by the Integrity Commissioner’s office in connection with this matter.”
During a recent interview on Village Media’s Closer Look podcast, Stiles said she believes in the purpose of the Skills Development Fund — but not as a means to “make some insider lobbyists rich.”
“Where have we heard those words from the Auditor General before?” she said on the podcast. “‘Not fair. Not transparent. Not accountable.’ This is what the Auditor General said about the Greenbelt fiasco, about Ontario Place. This has been happening again and again, and the government just doesn't seem to care to learn.”
You can watch the full interview HERE.
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