No…don’t say its so. How can there be corruption at Queen’s Park, the headquarters of the Ontario government?
On Monday, December 20, 2010 the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) arrested three provincial officials and one employe at CB Richard Ellis (a company that provides project management services for the government). The allegation is based on a cash kickbacks scheme involving government cleaning contracts at the Queen’s Park complex.
Two government officials at the Ministry of Transportation and one government official at the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade have been charged with accepting a secret commission and breach of trust and are on paid leave from their jobs. The CB Richard Ellis employee has been charged with one count of fraud under $5,000 and is on unpaid leave.
The four individuals charged by the OPP are:
Gino Conicella of Woodbridge (age: 47) who is a project co-odinator for the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade; Michaele Depace of Toronto (age: 47) who works for the Ministry of Transportation; Kathy Pagliaroli of Woodbridge (age: 40) who works for the Ministry of Transportation; and Ivanna Presot of Toronto of Toronto (age: 46) who works with CB Richard Ellis Global Corporate Services.
Let me get this straight: 1. Three of McGuinty’s government officials have supposedly taken kickbacks which means that Ontario taxpayers have paid more than they had to for services, 2. They have been investigated and charged by the OPP and McGuinty has send them home to basically do nothing while still getting paid, 3. Ontarians are wondering why their taxes are so high. Who knows what new tax is in the works at Queen’s park. It is interesting that the CB Richard Ellis employee is on unpaid leave and the government officials are on paid leave. Are there different rules for the same acts if you work for the government or if you work for a company?
Oh, and I couldn’t help notice that two of the accused are from Woodbridge Ontario. So I did some research and found out that Sesame Street film “Follow That Bird” has scenes shot near Maxey Park off Willis ave in Woodbridge and that Sean Paul video “Get Busy” was also shot in Woodbridge.
Yup, Follow That Bird and Get Busy…Isn’t it time that we clean up the provincial government?
Mio Pupazzo