| MORE SUSPICIOUS MCGUINTY SLUSH FUND GRANTS |
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| Sunday, 22 April 2007 19:00 |
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Two more groups with ties to Liberal Party received money with few questions asked QUEEN'S PARK, April 23, 2007 – Progressive Conservative Party Leader John Tory today revealed that two more groups with connections to the Liberal Party received grants as part of Dalton McGuinty’s year-end slush fund. “There is a cloud hanging over this government and an odour hanging over this slush fund,” said Tory. “The Minister admitted guilt today. How can anyone in Ontario have faith that money is going to new Canadians who need it with this ongoing scandal?” In the Legislature today, Tory pressed Immigration and Citizenship Minister Mike Colle to explain the rationale behind two grants to groups connected to the Liberal Party. The International Seniors Club of Brampton received $100,000 from the McGuinty slush fund in March. One of the members of the Board of Directors of the organization is Atma Singh Gill who is the president of the Liberal Party of Canada riding association in Mississauga – Brampton South, a riding represented by Liberal MP Navdeep Bains. Another group, the Ontario Khalsa Darbar, received $250,000 from the McGuinty slush fund. The group has several board members who are Liberal Party donors. The group has also been embroiled in a court case since 2006 about allegations that $2.5 million in membership fees had not been reflected in the organizations books. The Minister refused to provide any documentation or justification about the two grants today in Question Period. He has also still not provided information on grants to two other groups with Liberal Party connections – the Bengali Cultural Society and the Iranian-Canadian Community Centre, which has seven board members, 100 percent of whom are donors to the Liberal Party. “Elvis and others have left the building with millions of taxpayer dollars and the McGuinty government tries to shrug it off,” said Tory. “There has been no application process, no accountability and no answers from the McGuinty Liberals about this political slush fund. It’s time for answers and it’s time the Auditor checked out this taxpayer-financed political slush fund to get the real story here.” -30- For more information: Brendan Howe (416) 325-0412 |