TORONTO, ON — In response to an Ontario Liberal request, the Financial Accountability Officer is launching an investigation into Ford’s decision to “accelerate” the expansion of alcohol sales, and hide the true costs from taxpayers.
“Doug Ford has gutted our healthcare system, and instead of fixing it, he’s spending your money padding the profits of his billionaire buddies at the big box stores, grocers, and convenience store chains. Worse still, he hid the costs from us. Spending potentially more than $1 billion dollars on booze, rather than hiring the nurses, doctors, and healthcare workers that we need. He’s not in it for you.”
— Bonnie Crombie, Leader of Ontario’s Liberals
Ford’s own Finance Minister has admitted he doesn’t know the true costs of this sketchy scheme, merely stating he would “update the numbers as the market opens” and that “there’s always going to be costs”.
The FAO plans to complete this investigation early in 2025 but warns, “there are risks to meeting this timeline. The main risk is access to information. The FAO must receive timely information from the Province to complete the project and delays in receiving information could affect the project timeline.”
“Ontario’s Liberals call on the Ford government to cooperate fully with this investigation and ensure the FAO receives the information he needs to complete his work. Given the finance minister has admitted he doesn’t know the true costs of this boozedoggle, he should want to support the FAO in getting to the bottom of how much this scheme cost Ontario taxpayers. As we await the results of the investigation, this much is clear: Doug Ford has put his friends first, and Ontario families last. His summer of investigations will show us once again that Doug Ford can’t be trusted to help anyone except for his rich friends.”
— Bonnie Crombie, Leader of Ontario’s Liberals