A request to Ontario’s integrity commissioner to probe conflict-of-interest allegations between the Ford government and donors associated with the owners of the York1 Dresden landfill isn’t going ahead.
Last week, Ontario MPP Ted Hsu released a letter from integrity commissioner Cathryn Motherwell, stating media reports on the matter weren’t enough to substantiate an investigation.
Hsu, who serves as the Liberal critic for rural and agricultural affairs, asked for the investigation in May. His complaint, naming Premier Doug Ford, former Environment Minister Andrea Khanjin, Energy Minister Stephen Lecce and current Environment Minister Todd McCarthy, was based on reporting by the news agency The Trillium.
An investigative report by The Trillium detailed financial contributions to the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party by the owners of York1 and associated family members.
Prominent developers Andrew and Daniel Guizzetti, along with York1 COO Brian Brunetti, purchased the dump property in December 2022. When plans for the landfill were uncovered, residents and politicians in both Lambton and Chatham-Kent called for a full environmental assessment of the project located less than a kilometre from the community. Khanjin agreed, just two weeks shy of a byelection in the riding, which includes Dresden.
Hsu, relying on information from reporting in The Trillium, said after Khanjin announced the full Environmental Assessment for the York1 project March 15, there were three fundraising events Ford was expected to attend between March 22 and April 5.
“In that time frame, senior executives from Guizzetti-affiliated companies, over 50 individuals, donated exactly $945, consistent with fundraising ticketed practices,” Hsu wrote in his complaint.
Hsu, MPP for Kingston and the Islands, said that while he’s disappointed by Motherwell’s decision, he will continue to fight for the community. He was expected to attend a public meeting in Dresden Aug. 22.
