Some of the same executives involved in the eHealth scandal helped approve a lucrative consulting contract for a friend's firm four years ago when they were running another provincial health agency, sources tell CBC News.
The McGuinty government had tasked Cancer Care Ontario in 2005 with finding ways to reduce hospital wait times for cancer surgery. At the time, Sarah Kramer was a vice-president and the chief information officer at the agency, and Alan Hudson was the CEO.
Kramer later went on the head eHealth Ontario, while Hudson became the chair of eHealth. Kramer was fired from that job in June, and Hudson resigned as chair soon after it emerged they doled out millions of dollars in untendered contracts.
Cancer Care Ontario put out a call for tenders on June 30, 2005, to develop a computer system to measure wait times for such procedures as cardiac surgery, hip replacements and MRIs.
The agency considered 11 proposals to land the contract and narrowed the list to two contenders.
Phone call changed things
But the company that eventually landed the contract, Accenture, did not make that final short list, CBC News has learned.
The company, which was among the 11 original bidders, was contacted by Cancer Care Ontario and told it had not made the final two, Accenture told CBC News.
That changed after a senior partner at the firm, Will Falk, made a phone call to Kramer, who was on holiday when the short list was drawn up, three sources close to the bidding process told CBC News. Accenture won the contract a day or two after that phone call in mid August 2005, the sources said.
They requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.
Accenture denied any wrongdoing.
"We have no reason to believe our team acted inappropriately in the contract bidding process," Accenture said in a statement. "We have both won and lost competitive work for CCO."
The statement did not deny that Falk made a call to Kramer.
Kramer, who similarly said she wasn't involved in any wrongdoing, also did not deny that she received a call from Falk.
"No single person at CCO was responsible for awarding this contract to Accenture, rather a full committee with appropriate representation and expertise decided that Accenture was the most appropriate candidate to do this work," Kramer said in a statement to CBC News.
Kramer and Falk were close personal friends — Falk was one of Kramer's references when she applied for the position of eHealth CEO.
The Cancer Care Ontario contract was initially supposed to be worth $5 million, but the sources said that amount later ballooned to close to $20 million.
The next year, Accenture secured another contract — this one was tendered — to implement the program it had designed in 50 Ontario hospitals.
No response from Falk, Hudson, Kramer
Cancer Care Ontario denied CBC's request for a copy of Accenture's wait times contract. Although it's a government agency, Cancer Care Ontario is not subject to the province's freedom of information rules.
The agency acknowledged in a statement to CBC News that Accenture did not make the final two companies. But after reviewing oral presentations from the two, "questions were raised about the financial stability of one of the vendors and the project management approach of both organizations," said Mitchell Toker, spokesman for Cancer Care Ontario.
"In addition, there was a concern that one of the vendors lacked technical expertise with the software in question."
Accenture, which was the next vendor in waiting, was asked to make an oral presentation and then secured the contract, he said.
Falk and Hudson declined requests for interviews.
eHealth was set up last September by the Liberal government. It was tasked with developing a digital record system by 2015 to allow health-care providers to electronically share patient information to prevent medical errors and reduce costs.
Kramer and Hudson left eHealth in June soon after the health agency doled out $16 million in contracts without any apparent attempt to open the deals to outside bidders within the first four months of its creation in September 2008.
The agency paid consultants millions of dollars for — among other things — watching TV, reading the New York Times and holding a conversation on the subway.
Ontario's auditor-general is due to release the results of his investigation into eHealth on Wednesday.
CBC.CA
critter cartoon
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Crown attorneys told to stop illegal juror checks
If it's illegal, why no charges?
Ontario's privacy commissioner has ordered the province's Crown attorneys to halt the collection of personal information about potential jurors beyond what is legally necessary.
In a report released Monday afternoon, Ann Cavoukian also asked the province's attorney general to create a single, centralized juror-screening process to minimize unnecessary background checks.
The 213-page report is the product of a four-month investigation into whether the privacy rights of prospective jurors were breached by police officers who conducted background checks on them on behalf of Crown attorneys.
The investigation found that 18 of the 55 Crown attorney offices in Ontario received background information about potential jurors that failed to comply with applicable privacy legislation.
It also found that practices regarding the disclosure of that information to defence counsel varied from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.
The results don't point to "a sweeping epidemic," Cavoukian said.
"However, while these practices varied in terms of their invasiveness, the fact remains that 18 Crown attorney offices across the province gathered personal information that exceeded the criminal conviction eligibility criteria set out in the Juries Act and Criminal Code," she said, referring to a law that bars individuals who have been convicted and not yet pardoned of an indictable offence from serving on a jury.
Implementing a new juror screening process would amount to "a fundamental shift in the way that prospective jurors are screened in Ontario," Cavoukian said.
The process would be run by the London-based Provincial Jury Centre, which already receives the names and personal information of all prospective jurors.
The PJC is "in an ideal position to implement strict privacy and security measures that can be strongly enforced," the report said.
Investigation launched after media report
Cavoukian launched her investigation on June 10, less than three weeks after a report in the National Post described jury vetting practices in Barrie. Reports of similar vetting in Windsor and Thunder Bay soon followed.
Commissioner employees were sent to conduct in-person interviews with Crown attorneys, court staff, police officials and defence counsel in four Ontario locations, including Windsor and Barrie. They also sent empirical surveys to all 55 Crown attorney offices and sought legal submissions from a variety of legal bodies including the Ministry of the Attorney General and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.
The most frequent use of invasive background checks occurred in Barrie/Simcoe County, the report concluded, where jury vetting took place in at least 53 jury trials. In Sarnia/Lambton County and St. Thomas/Elgin County, it happened in 12 cases.
In one case, in Windsor/Essex County, jury vetting led one judge to declare a mistrial in a first-degree murder case.
In June, police in Windsor acknowledged reviewing ticket histories, pardons, family issues and young offender records of potential jurors in the hopes of determining which jurors might be most amenable to the prosecution.
At the time, the police didn't "have a policy on that type of thing," said Chief Gary Smith. "It has gone on," he said. "I don't know the frequency and I don't when it started."
Problems flagged in 1993
Cavoukian's report says the issue of jury background checks was first formally flagged to the attorney general's office in March 1993, after a judge questioned disseminating a juror's personal information. Despite a memorandum sent to a branch of the attorney's general office recommending that background checks should stop, they didn't, Cavoukian points out, leaving in place "this invasive practice."
"Since then, a series of opportunities to provide guidance to Crown attorneys was missed," Cavoukian said. "In the absence of clear direction, a patchwork of practices developed across the province."
Cavoukian hopes her order and recommendations create accountability in a process that "sits at the very heart of our judicial system."
"Jury duty is one of the core legal and moral obligations that we assume as citizens," she said.
"It follows that any practice that taints, or is perceived to taint, the jury process, strikes at the very heart of the values we share as citizens of a free and democratic society."
CBC.CA
Ontario's privacy commissioner has ordered the province's Crown attorneys to halt the collection of personal information about potential jurors beyond what is legally necessary.
In a report released Monday afternoon, Ann Cavoukian also asked the province's attorney general to create a single, centralized juror-screening process to minimize unnecessary background checks.
The 213-page report is the product of a four-month investigation into whether the privacy rights of prospective jurors were breached by police officers who conducted background checks on them on behalf of Crown attorneys.
The investigation found that 18 of the 55 Crown attorney offices in Ontario received background information about potential jurors that failed to comply with applicable privacy legislation.
It also found that practices regarding the disclosure of that information to defence counsel varied from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.
The results don't point to "a sweeping epidemic," Cavoukian said.
"However, while these practices varied in terms of their invasiveness, the fact remains that 18 Crown attorney offices across the province gathered personal information that exceeded the criminal conviction eligibility criteria set out in the Juries Act and Criminal Code," she said, referring to a law that bars individuals who have been convicted and not yet pardoned of an indictable offence from serving on a jury.
Implementing a new juror screening process would amount to "a fundamental shift in the way that prospective jurors are screened in Ontario," Cavoukian said.
The process would be run by the London-based Provincial Jury Centre, which already receives the names and personal information of all prospective jurors.
The PJC is "in an ideal position to implement strict privacy and security measures that can be strongly enforced," the report said.
Investigation launched after media report
Cavoukian launched her investigation on June 10, less than three weeks after a report in the National Post described jury vetting practices in Barrie. Reports of similar vetting in Windsor and Thunder Bay soon followed.
Commissioner employees were sent to conduct in-person interviews with Crown attorneys, court staff, police officials and defence counsel in four Ontario locations, including Windsor and Barrie. They also sent empirical surveys to all 55 Crown attorney offices and sought legal submissions from a variety of legal bodies including the Ministry of the Attorney General and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.
The most frequent use of invasive background checks occurred in Barrie/Simcoe County, the report concluded, where jury vetting took place in at least 53 jury trials. In Sarnia/Lambton County and St. Thomas/Elgin County, it happened in 12 cases.
In one case, in Windsor/Essex County, jury vetting led one judge to declare a mistrial in a first-degree murder case.
In June, police in Windsor acknowledged reviewing ticket histories, pardons, family issues and young offender records of potential jurors in the hopes of determining which jurors might be most amenable to the prosecution.
At the time, the police didn't "have a policy on that type of thing," said Chief Gary Smith. "It has gone on," he said. "I don't know the frequency and I don't when it started."
Problems flagged in 1993
Cavoukian's report says the issue of jury background checks was first formally flagged to the attorney general's office in March 1993, after a judge questioned disseminating a juror's personal information. Despite a memorandum sent to a branch of the attorney's general office recommending that background checks should stop, they didn't, Cavoukian points out, leaving in place "this invasive practice."
"Since then, a series of opportunities to provide guidance to Crown attorneys was missed," Cavoukian said. "In the absence of clear direction, a patchwork of practices developed across the province."
Cavoukian hopes her order and recommendations create accountability in a process that "sits at the very heart of our judicial system."
"Jury duty is one of the core legal and moral obligations that we assume as citizens," she said.
"It follows that any practice that taints, or is perceived to taint, the jury process, strikes at the very heart of the values we share as citizens of a free and democratic society."
CBC.CA
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Friday, October 2, 2009
Injustices likely to surface.
Leading experts plan to meet in spring to review most contentious convictions in shaken baby cases
Oct 02, 2009 04:30 AM
Theresa Boyle
Health Reporter
One year after a groundbreaking report exposed flaws in Ontario's forensic pathology system, investigations into dozens of cases continue, with a lawyer for victims of the notorious Dr. Charles Smith expecting more miscarriages of justice to be exposed.
"I've always guessed there will be several cases coming through the shaken-baby committee as likely miscarriages of justice," James Lockyer said Thursday.
He was referring to a committee struck by the province last December to investigate 142 child deaths dating back to 1986 to determine if wrongful convictions resulted from what is now viewed as questionable science.
A review into the shaken-baby deaths was one of the recommendations contained in a report by Justice Stephen Goudge, who headed a public inquiry into Ontario's troubled forensic pathology system. The inquiry was prompted by mistakes made by pathologist Dr. Charles Smith in 20 child-death investigations, 12 of which resulted in convictions.
Attorney General Chris Bentley said in an interview Thursday that cases that don't involve issues of criminality or where the convicted person is deceased are being dropped from the probe.
The most contentious cases will then be reviewed by an international panel of leading medical experts, who are scheduled to meet in Toronto next spring.
"There's no suggestion that anyone did anything wrong. It's just that the knowledge of this shaken-baby syndrome has evolved over the years," Bentley said.
New research shows that some babies once thought to have died from being violently shaken in fact suffered injuries as a result of falls.
Another committee struck by Bentley on the advice of Goudge is looking at 22 of Smith's older cases that were not part of the public inquiry. These are child-death investigations Smith worked on between 1981 and 1991 and they are now being reviewed with a view to determining whether there were any miscarriages of justice.
Bentley said that in cases where injustice is being claimed, the Crown will respond expeditiously to any legal steps taken by the defence.
A third committee is advising Bentley on the viability of a potential compensation framework for Smith's victims. It's headed by Justice Coulter Osborne, with whom Bentley met on Wednesday.
"I know it's a challenging issue. I'm hopeful," Bentley said.
Already, two people convicted of homicide-related crimes on the basis of shaken-baby syndrome have come to the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted for assistance, noted Lockyer, a director with the organization. Both are parents who did time in jail for the unrelated deaths of their children, one in the '80s and the other in the '90s.
"In cases where this pseudo-science was used to convict people of crimes of shaking which we can now say weren't (shaking), of course they should be reviewed as likely miscarriages of justice," Lockyer said.
Lawyer and child advocate Suzan Fraser said she hopes the province will also do something for siblings of dead children who were put up for adoption or into foster care after parents were wrongly implicated in child deaths.
Toronto Star
Oct 02, 2009 04:30 AM
Theresa Boyle
Health Reporter
One year after a groundbreaking report exposed flaws in Ontario's forensic pathology system, investigations into dozens of cases continue, with a lawyer for victims of the notorious Dr. Charles Smith expecting more miscarriages of justice to be exposed.
"I've always guessed there will be several cases coming through the shaken-baby committee as likely miscarriages of justice," James Lockyer said Thursday.
He was referring to a committee struck by the province last December to investigate 142 child deaths dating back to 1986 to determine if wrongful convictions resulted from what is now viewed as questionable science.
A review into the shaken-baby deaths was one of the recommendations contained in a report by Justice Stephen Goudge, who headed a public inquiry into Ontario's troubled forensic pathology system. The inquiry was prompted by mistakes made by pathologist Dr. Charles Smith in 20 child-death investigations, 12 of which resulted in convictions.
Attorney General Chris Bentley said in an interview Thursday that cases that don't involve issues of criminality or where the convicted person is deceased are being dropped from the probe.
The most contentious cases will then be reviewed by an international panel of leading medical experts, who are scheduled to meet in Toronto next spring.
"There's no suggestion that anyone did anything wrong. It's just that the knowledge of this shaken-baby syndrome has evolved over the years," Bentley said.
New research shows that some babies once thought to have died from being violently shaken in fact suffered injuries as a result of falls.
Another committee struck by Bentley on the advice of Goudge is looking at 22 of Smith's older cases that were not part of the public inquiry. These are child-death investigations Smith worked on between 1981 and 1991 and they are now being reviewed with a view to determining whether there were any miscarriages of justice.
Bentley said that in cases where injustice is being claimed, the Crown will respond expeditiously to any legal steps taken by the defence.
A third committee is advising Bentley on the viability of a potential compensation framework for Smith's victims. It's headed by Justice Coulter Osborne, with whom Bentley met on Wednesday.
"I know it's a challenging issue. I'm hopeful," Bentley said.
Already, two people convicted of homicide-related crimes on the basis of shaken-baby syndrome have come to the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted for assistance, noted Lockyer, a director with the organization. Both are parents who did time in jail for the unrelated deaths of their children, one in the '80s and the other in the '90s.
"In cases where this pseudo-science was used to convict people of crimes of shaking which we can now say weren't (shaking), of course they should be reviewed as likely miscarriages of justice," Lockyer said.
Lawyer and child advocate Suzan Fraser said she hopes the province will also do something for siblings of dead children who were put up for adoption or into foster care after parents were wrongly implicated in child deaths.
Toronto Star
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Duncan takes heat over $81M, OLG-owned power plant in his riding
No problem....were getting hit with the HST!
September 29, 2009
Maria Babbage
The Canadian Press
TORONTO — The Opposition Conservatives are demanding to know why the province spent $81 million to build an energy plant that powers a Windsor casino in a senior minister’s riding.
The staggering figure attached to the Windsor Energy Centre, which emerged in the government’s annual spending numbers Friday, raises a lot of questions, said Tory critic Peter Shurman.
“First of all, why was this power plant built? Why does a lottery and gaming corporation own a power plant?” he said.
Shurman raised the plant’s cost in the legislature today and called on Finance Minister Dwight Duncan to explain why so much cash went to his “pet project.”
Duncan wouldn’t elaborate about the cost of the plant, which is owned by the OLG, citing a recent lawsuit over its ownership.
But any suggestion that the plant amounted to political pork-barrelling in his Windsor riding are “wrong,” he said outside the legislative chamber.
Buttcon Energy Inc., which operated the plant until recently, announced Aug. 31
that it had filed a $355-million lawsuit against the OLG.
The lawsuit alleges breach of contract, “misfeasance (and) misrepresentation,” among other claims which have not been proven in court. The OLG said it will fight those claims in court.
Duncan seemed displeased today with the plant’s large price tag, saying it was one of the reasons he cleaned house at the problem-plagued Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp.
“That’s an example of another issue that caused me great concern when I was given the file two months ago, and as a consequence, we’ve taken some steps,” he said in an interview.
Duncan announced Aug. 31 that the OLG board had been replaced and its CEO, Kelly McDougald, had been fired. That same day, the government released thousands of pages of what were deemed “unacceptable” expense claims filed by lottery executives.
McDougald has launched an $8.4-million wrongful dismissal suit against OLG, the Crown and Duncan, claiming breach of contract, moral and punitive damages, defamation and “loss of opportunity to enhance reputation.” The Ontario government has said it will dispute the claim.
Duncan said there were two casino projects approved by the province’s auditor general, which were designed to create jobs in the province.
“There are legitimate questions,” he acknowledged. “Why did we do it in the first instance? Second of all, why did OLG say it would be 40 and it came in at $80 million? And these are the kinds of issues that I’ve been tasked to deal with.”
The power plant is just another fiasco for the governing Liberals, who’ve been dogged for months by spending scandals at other Ontario agencies, Shurman said.
The Tory critic said Duncan is hiding behind a lawsuit instead of giving straight answers about why the OLG spent taxpayers’ dollars to build the plant.
“I have never seen anything so mealy-mouthed as Minister Dwight Duncan on this question,” he added.
OLG spokesman Rui Brum said he couldn’t comment on why the corporation had the plant built, as it may come up in litigation stemming from the Buttcon lawsuit.
The OLG-owned plant provides heating, cooling and backup power to the new hotel tower, convention areas and entertainment centre at Caesar’s Windsor casino, which opened in July 2008, he said.
Buttcon Ltd. started construction on the plant for the OLG in 2007. Buttcon Energy Inc. operated it until recently, he said. Angus Consulting Management Ltd. is currently operating the plant in the short term.
The Spec
September 29, 2009
Maria Babbage
The Canadian Press
TORONTO — The Opposition Conservatives are demanding to know why the province spent $81 million to build an energy plant that powers a Windsor casino in a senior minister’s riding.
The staggering figure attached to the Windsor Energy Centre, which emerged in the government’s annual spending numbers Friday, raises a lot of questions, said Tory critic Peter Shurman.
“First of all, why was this power plant built? Why does a lottery and gaming corporation own a power plant?” he said.
Shurman raised the plant’s cost in the legislature today and called on Finance Minister Dwight Duncan to explain why so much cash went to his “pet project.”
Duncan wouldn’t elaborate about the cost of the plant, which is owned by the OLG, citing a recent lawsuit over its ownership.
But any suggestion that the plant amounted to political pork-barrelling in his Windsor riding are “wrong,” he said outside the legislative chamber.
Buttcon Energy Inc., which operated the plant until recently, announced Aug. 31
that it had filed a $355-million lawsuit against the OLG.
The lawsuit alleges breach of contract, “misfeasance (and) misrepresentation,” among other claims which have not been proven in court. The OLG said it will fight those claims in court.
Duncan seemed displeased today with the plant’s large price tag, saying it was one of the reasons he cleaned house at the problem-plagued Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp.
“That’s an example of another issue that caused me great concern when I was given the file two months ago, and as a consequence, we’ve taken some steps,” he said in an interview.
Duncan announced Aug. 31 that the OLG board had been replaced and its CEO, Kelly McDougald, had been fired. That same day, the government released thousands of pages of what were deemed “unacceptable” expense claims filed by lottery executives.
McDougald has launched an $8.4-million wrongful dismissal suit against OLG, the Crown and Duncan, claiming breach of contract, moral and punitive damages, defamation and “loss of opportunity to enhance reputation.” The Ontario government has said it will dispute the claim.
Duncan said there were two casino projects approved by the province’s auditor general, which were designed to create jobs in the province.
“There are legitimate questions,” he acknowledged. “Why did we do it in the first instance? Second of all, why did OLG say it would be 40 and it came in at $80 million? And these are the kinds of issues that I’ve been tasked to deal with.”
The power plant is just another fiasco for the governing Liberals, who’ve been dogged for months by spending scandals at other Ontario agencies, Shurman said.
The Tory critic said Duncan is hiding behind a lawsuit instead of giving straight answers about why the OLG spent taxpayers’ dollars to build the plant.
“I have never seen anything so mealy-mouthed as Minister Dwight Duncan on this question,” he added.
OLG spokesman Rui Brum said he couldn’t comment on why the corporation had the plant built, as it may come up in litigation stemming from the Buttcon lawsuit.
The OLG-owned plant provides heating, cooling and backup power to the new hotel tower, convention areas and entertainment centre at Caesar’s Windsor casino, which opened in July 2008, he said.
Buttcon Ltd. started construction on the plant for the OLG in 2007. Buttcon Energy Inc. operated it until recently, he said. Angus Consulting Management Ltd. is currently operating the plant in the short term.
The Spec
Monday, September 28, 2009
A Toronto police officer who works as an investigator in the traffic services division has been charged for allegedly leaving the scene of a crash.
No doubt a great community leader!!!
A Toronto police officer who works as an investigator in the traffic services division has been charged for allegedly leaving the scene of a crash.
Det. Const. Paul Higgins, 49, was charged Sunday with failing to stop after an accident, Toronto police said in a news release on Monday.
At 1:13 p.m. ET on Saturday, police were called to a two-car collision on the Gardiner Expressway near Jameson Avenue.
Both drivers exited the highway and pulled over. A passenger in one of the cars approached the other car, asking the driver for his name and telling him that police had been called.
The driver said his name was Paul and drove off.
Higgins, who has served on the force for 24 years, is scheduled to appear in court at Old City Hall on Nov. 10.
CBC.CA
A Toronto police officer who works as an investigator in the traffic services division has been charged for allegedly leaving the scene of a crash.
Det. Const. Paul Higgins, 49, was charged Sunday with failing to stop after an accident, Toronto police said in a news release on Monday.
At 1:13 p.m. ET on Saturday, police were called to a two-car collision on the Gardiner Expressway near Jameson Avenue.
Both drivers exited the highway and pulled over. A passenger in one of the cars approached the other car, asking the driver for his name and telling him that police had been called.
The driver said his name was Paul and drove off.
Higgins, who has served on the force for 24 years, is scheduled to appear in court at Old City Hall on Nov. 10.
CBC.CA
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Two more quit scandal-ridden eHealth board
Hudak charges that premier allows 'Liberal friends to sneak out back door' ahead of auditor's report
Sep 24, 2009 04:30 AM
Rob Ferguson
Queen's Park Bureau
Two members of the board at eHealth Ontario – including a prominent Liberal – have quit, just before more heads are expected to roll over a spending scandal at the troubled agency.
Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak said the timing of the departures is suspicious, with the auditor general's report on the expense account scandal due early next month and results from more Tory freedom of information requests on untendered contracts on tap for next week.
"We'd like to know exactly what circumstances suddenly changed," he told the Legislature yesterday, comparing the departures with the recent firing of Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. chief executive Kelly McDougald earlier this month.
"Why is the premier allowing his Liberal friends to sneak out the back door rather than making a big show like he did with the OLG?"
Leaving the board at the provincial electronic health records agency are Geoff Smith, a former chair of the Ontario Liberal Fund, and Khalil Barsoum, who was widely criticized for charging taxpayers $4,600 for flights to Toronto from his Florida vacation home for board meetings.
Premier Dalton McGuinty deflected Hudak's questions to Health Minister David Caplan, who said he did not know why the two men were leaving, other than for personal reasons.
"It is with regret that we have accepted their resignations," Caplan said, noting the departures first revealed yesterday by Hudak were not requested by the government.
"This is like Hogan's Heroes," shouted New Democrat MPP Gilles Bisson (Timmins-James Bay), referring to the 1960s comedy about a dim-witted sergeant at a German prisoner-of-war camp run by an ineffective commandant. "We've got Schultz and Klink ... `I know nothing.'"
Smith, whose last major fundraiser for the Liberals was a March dinner, told the Star he resigned effective July 6 because his position as chief executive of construction firm EllisDon required more time, given the challenges of the recession.
"During the period of time I was on the eHealth board, I did not feel I was doing either job well enough, and I therefore resigned from the eHealth Board in order to focus on my day job."
Barsoum, a retired IBM executive, formally submitted his resignation early this month after tipping his hand weeks earlier, said new eHealth chair Rita Burak, who was brought in by the government after the scandal exploded last spring and resulted in the departure of then-chief executive Sarah Kramer.
As for the reimbursement of his flight receipts, "he took advice from the people of the day and he in good faith submitted his expenses and they were paid," Burak said.
Hudak said the Conservative freedom of information requests include a search for any details of untendered contracts awarded to EllisDon by the government.
Caplan suggested there aren't any, and noted the company is one of several building new hospitals in the province, all jobs awarded through a public bidding process.
Toronto Star
Sep 24, 2009 04:30 AM
Rob Ferguson
Queen's Park Bureau
Two members of the board at eHealth Ontario – including a prominent Liberal – have quit, just before more heads are expected to roll over a spending scandal at the troubled agency.
Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak said the timing of the departures is suspicious, with the auditor general's report on the expense account scandal due early next month and results from more Tory freedom of information requests on untendered contracts on tap for next week.
"We'd like to know exactly what circumstances suddenly changed," he told the Legislature yesterday, comparing the departures with the recent firing of Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. chief executive Kelly McDougald earlier this month.
"Why is the premier allowing his Liberal friends to sneak out the back door rather than making a big show like he did with the OLG?"
Leaving the board at the provincial electronic health records agency are Geoff Smith, a former chair of the Ontario Liberal Fund, and Khalil Barsoum, who was widely criticized for charging taxpayers $4,600 for flights to Toronto from his Florida vacation home for board meetings.
Premier Dalton McGuinty deflected Hudak's questions to Health Minister David Caplan, who said he did not know why the two men were leaving, other than for personal reasons.
"It is with regret that we have accepted their resignations," Caplan said, noting the departures first revealed yesterday by Hudak were not requested by the government.
"This is like Hogan's Heroes," shouted New Democrat MPP Gilles Bisson (Timmins-James Bay), referring to the 1960s comedy about a dim-witted sergeant at a German prisoner-of-war camp run by an ineffective commandant. "We've got Schultz and Klink ... `I know nothing.'"
Smith, whose last major fundraiser for the Liberals was a March dinner, told the Star he resigned effective July 6 because his position as chief executive of construction firm EllisDon required more time, given the challenges of the recession.
"During the period of time I was on the eHealth board, I did not feel I was doing either job well enough, and I therefore resigned from the eHealth Board in order to focus on my day job."
Barsoum, a retired IBM executive, formally submitted his resignation early this month after tipping his hand weeks earlier, said new eHealth chair Rita Burak, who was brought in by the government after the scandal exploded last spring and resulted in the departure of then-chief executive Sarah Kramer.
As for the reimbursement of his flight receipts, "he took advice from the people of the day and he in good faith submitted his expenses and they were paid," Burak said.
Hudak said the Conservative freedom of information requests include a search for any details of untendered contracts awarded to EllisDon by the government.
Caplan suggested there aren't any, and noted the company is one of several building new hospitals in the province, all jobs awarded through a public bidding process.
Toronto Star
Ontario can't drop new tax
Daddy Dalton's nose just poked out Dwight's eye, as it just grew 3 feet.
Sep 24, 2009 04:30 AM
Robert Benzie
Queen's Park Bureau Chief
Ontario's controversial harmonized sales tax is here to stay – no matter who wins the next federal or provincial elections, documents confirm.
Buried in the fine print of the accord signed last March between Ottawa and Queen's Park is a clause that ensures the new 13 per cent tax, which takes effect July 1, remains at that rate until at least 2012.
Premier Dalton McGuinty said yesterday he was not up on the minutiae of the four-page memorandum of agreement, which also stipulates the HST must be in place through 2015.
"I'm actually not familiar with that stuff," McGuinty said. "I'm sure that (Finance Minister Dwight Duncan) will be of help."
He said it was important for both levels of government to give the levy, which blends the 8 per cent provincial sales tax with the 5 per cent federal goods and services tax, a strong foundation.
"Our intention is simply to put in place a tax system that is modern and efficient and that enhances our competitiveness and enables us to create more jobs – that's what it's all about," the premier told reporters.
"In no jurisdiction that they have put this into place have they ever repealed it.
"There's a broad consensus among economists and, in their hearts of hearts, politicians as well, that this is the right thing to do," he said.
Duncan, who co-signed the pact with federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, said Ottawa insisted upon the provisions that entrench the business-friendly HST.
"That was something the federal government wanted. The Canada Revenue Agency will now collect the tax and it's enormously complex," said Duncan.
"We agreed to it. Ontario political parties, if they choose, ... can start changing it – either raising it or lowering it, frankly –in 2012," he said, noting that any modifications would have to wait until nine months after the October 2011 election.
In exchange, the federal government is giving Ontario $4.3 billion in transition funds, most of which will be passed along to lower- and middle-income families in the form of rebate cheques.
Duncan's comments came after federal Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff finally admitted Monday he would not repeal the tax if his party defeats Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Tories.
Ignatieff's view of the tax has national implications since an almost-identical deal with British Columbia means that province will have a 12 per cent HST as of next July 1 in exchange for $1.6 billion in federal funding.
Designed to be business-friendly, the streamlined HST will raise the price of a slew of goods and services in Ontario that are not now subject to the provincial sales tax, including gasoline, fast-food value meals, tobacco and funerals.
Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak expressed alarm at the emerging details in the Flaherty-Duncan accord.
"It certainly sounds like Dalton McGuinty is trying to lock Ontario taxpayers into a bad deal – a deal that will see some $2.5 billion sucked out of their pockets and into the government treasury," Hudak said.
With provincial Conservative sources suggesting the party might campaign in 2011 on cutting the tax to 12 per cent, the Tories' policy-making could be hamstrung by the agreement.
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, who also opposes the tax but hadn't studied the accord, said it is further evidence "why we have to stop the tax from even going in."
"We have to become more vigorous in our opposition to the tax and we have to get the people of Ontario to join the campaign against it because ... we have to make sure the tax never sees the light of day in Ontario," said Horwath.
As opposition parties strive to derail the HST, proponents have formed the Smart Taxation Alliance to help sell it.
It is made up of tax boosters like the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters Ontario, the Certified General Accountants of Ontario, the Ontario Road Builders' Association, the Ontario Trucking Association, the Retail Council of Canada, TD Bank, and the Toronto Board of Trade.
The group said the tax would slash red tape and save businesses $500 million a year in administrative costs alone.
It notes that getting rid of the separate PST and GST will remove $5 billion in "layers of embedded taxes" and increase competitiveness.
Toronto Star
Sep 24, 2009 04:30 AM
Robert Benzie
Queen's Park Bureau Chief
Ontario's controversial harmonized sales tax is here to stay – no matter who wins the next federal or provincial elections, documents confirm.
Buried in the fine print of the accord signed last March between Ottawa and Queen's Park is a clause that ensures the new 13 per cent tax, which takes effect July 1, remains at that rate until at least 2012.
Premier Dalton McGuinty said yesterday he was not up on the minutiae of the four-page memorandum of agreement, which also stipulates the HST must be in place through 2015.
"I'm actually not familiar with that stuff," McGuinty said. "I'm sure that (Finance Minister Dwight Duncan) will be of help."
He said it was important for both levels of government to give the levy, which blends the 8 per cent provincial sales tax with the 5 per cent federal goods and services tax, a strong foundation.
"Our intention is simply to put in place a tax system that is modern and efficient and that enhances our competitiveness and enables us to create more jobs – that's what it's all about," the premier told reporters.
"In no jurisdiction that they have put this into place have they ever repealed it.
"There's a broad consensus among economists and, in their hearts of hearts, politicians as well, that this is the right thing to do," he said.
Duncan, who co-signed the pact with federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, said Ottawa insisted upon the provisions that entrench the business-friendly HST.
"That was something the federal government wanted. The Canada Revenue Agency will now collect the tax and it's enormously complex," said Duncan.
"We agreed to it. Ontario political parties, if they choose, ... can start changing it – either raising it or lowering it, frankly –in 2012," he said, noting that any modifications would have to wait until nine months after the October 2011 election.
In exchange, the federal government is giving Ontario $4.3 billion in transition funds, most of which will be passed along to lower- and middle-income families in the form of rebate cheques.
Duncan's comments came after federal Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff finally admitted Monday he would not repeal the tax if his party defeats Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Tories.
Ignatieff's view of the tax has national implications since an almost-identical deal with British Columbia means that province will have a 12 per cent HST as of next July 1 in exchange for $1.6 billion in federal funding.
Designed to be business-friendly, the streamlined HST will raise the price of a slew of goods and services in Ontario that are not now subject to the provincial sales tax, including gasoline, fast-food value meals, tobacco and funerals.
Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak expressed alarm at the emerging details in the Flaherty-Duncan accord.
"It certainly sounds like Dalton McGuinty is trying to lock Ontario taxpayers into a bad deal – a deal that will see some $2.5 billion sucked out of their pockets and into the government treasury," Hudak said.
With provincial Conservative sources suggesting the party might campaign in 2011 on cutting the tax to 12 per cent, the Tories' policy-making could be hamstrung by the agreement.
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, who also opposes the tax but hadn't studied the accord, said it is further evidence "why we have to stop the tax from even going in."
"We have to become more vigorous in our opposition to the tax and we have to get the people of Ontario to join the campaign against it because ... we have to make sure the tax never sees the light of day in Ontario," said Horwath.
As opposition parties strive to derail the HST, proponents have formed the Smart Taxation Alliance to help sell it.
It is made up of tax boosters like the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters Ontario, the Certified General Accountants of Ontario, the Ontario Road Builders' Association, the Ontario Trucking Association, the Retail Council of Canada, TD Bank, and the Toronto Board of Trade.
The group said the tax would slash red tape and save businesses $500 million a year in administrative costs alone.
It notes that getting rid of the separate PST and GST will remove $5 billion in "layers of embedded taxes" and increase competitiveness.
Toronto Star
Friday, September 25, 2009
Officer rapped in case involving Star reporter
This officer should make a great leader of the union..........
Sep 25, 2009 11:42 AM
Robyn Doolittle
Crime Reporter
Const. Michael McCormack, who is running for the Toronto Police Association presidency, was convicted of insubordination at a police tribunal this morning.
Supt. Jane Wilcox said she did not believe McCormack's testimony that he was carrying out police business when he ran a former Star crime reporter's name through law enforcement databases.
McCormack was charged with insubordination under the Police Act after checking reporter John Duncanson's name on three police databases in January 2008.
Duncanson, who died in January, wrote extensively about police corruption in the service – including stories involving McCormack's brother, William Jr.
Earlier, McCormack told the hearing that Duncanson wanted to meet.
"He (said he) had information for me," McCormack testified. Duncanson also mentioned he was facing impaired driving charges.
McCormack testified he checked databases "to see if John was wanted or should be in court."
But prosecutor Insp. Scott Gilbert alleged it was done for personal reasons.
McCormack will likely lose three days pay. His lawyer, Peter Brauti, who could not appear today for personal reasons, will meet with Wilcox next week to set a date for sentencing submissions.
Outside the hearing, McCormack said he felt the wrong decision was made and it should not affect his run for the union.
The Star.com
Sep 25, 2009 11:42 AM
Robyn Doolittle
Crime Reporter
Const. Michael McCormack, who is running for the Toronto Police Association presidency, was convicted of insubordination at a police tribunal this morning.
Supt. Jane Wilcox said she did not believe McCormack's testimony that he was carrying out police business when he ran a former Star crime reporter's name through law enforcement databases.
McCormack was charged with insubordination under the Police Act after checking reporter John Duncanson's name on three police databases in January 2008.
Duncanson, who died in January, wrote extensively about police corruption in the service – including stories involving McCormack's brother, William Jr.
Earlier, McCormack told the hearing that Duncanson wanted to meet.
"He (said he) had information for me," McCormack testified. Duncanson also mentioned he was facing impaired driving charges.
McCormack testified he checked databases "to see if John was wanted or should be in court."
But prosecutor Insp. Scott Gilbert alleged it was done for personal reasons.
McCormack will likely lose three days pay. His lawyer, Peter Brauti, who could not appear today for personal reasons, will meet with Wilcox next week to set a date for sentencing submissions.
Outside the hearing, McCormack said he felt the wrong decision was made and it should not affect his run for the union.
The Star.com
Ontario deficit $2.5B worse than expected
Ontario's deficit for the last fiscal year was $2.5 billion higher than expected, driven by a 48 per cent drop in corporate tax revenue.
The provincial budget in March forecast a deficit of $3.9 billion in the 2008-09 fiscal year ended March 31, 2009.
But according to financial statements released Friday afternoon by the government, the deficit for the year stands at $6.4 billion.
Corporate tax revenues for the year totalled $6.7 billion, the statements show. In 2008, the government had pegged that number at $12.3 billion.
'Difficult choices ahead'
"As I've indicated in the past when we had numbers, we were very careful to say that there is enormous volatility in the economy," Finance Minister Dwight Duncan told CBC News. "Corporate taxes are historically the most volatile tax, and that volatility has come through."
Duncan also hinted that the government's projections for next year's deficit may go up. In March, he forecast a $14.1-billion deficit in 2009-2010.
"It'll depend on whether or not what we have seen up until March of this year continues on and it also depends on how quickly government revenues get restored to where they were," said Duncan, when asked about a possible change in that projected figure.
"One thing we know is that both growth in employment and growth in government revenues tend to lag growth in the economy. That's been the experience after every major downturn in the last generation."
The Ministry of Finance has predicted Ontario's GDP will contract by 2.5 per cent for 2009 before growing by 2.3 per cent the following year.
The government has some "difficult choices ahead," Duncan said, adding he would elaborate during his fall statement, expected in October.
He would not say if the government would stick to its plan to eliminate deficits by fiscal year 2015-2016.
Opposition questions Liberal credibility
The Progressive Conservatives said "it was no surprise" the Liberals waited until Friday afternoon to release the public accounts.
"Premier Dalton McGuinty has lost all credibility when it comes to managing the province's finances," said Opposition finance critic Norm Miller.
"We fell faster and harder than other provinces in this recession."
The New Democrats charged that the government was always playing politics with its budget forecasts and should agree to set up an independent budget office like the federal government's.
"Ontarians should expect an impartial budget document, not one clouded by partisan political spin like we've gotten from the McGuinty government," said NDP Leader Andrea Horwath.
"Each and every update out of the mouths of the premier and the finance minister was rosy. It turns out their spin was far from the truth," she said.
The province's debt grew this fiscal year by $14.7 billion, which included some accounting practice changes, to $113.2 billion, according to the documents.
But Duncan touted his government's management of finances, saying spending growth was brought to its lowest level in eight years.
Total spending for the year stood at $96.9 billion, an increase of 0.37 per cent from the previous fiscal year.
With files from The Canadian Press
CBC.CA
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No more taxes after HST...I promise!
They had No Choice!
They wore these or I took away thier toys for 7 days!
No kidding!
"Damn Street Racer"pays with Brusies
