The provincial auditor reported in April that the Liberal government did save money on winter road maintenance over the last five years, but at a cost that included taking twice as long to clear highways of snow or ice than it did previously.But wait, it gets better.
Prior to the contract changes in 2009, Ontario’s most travelled highways were cleared about 2.1 hours after a storm, but auditor general Bonnie Lysyk said that increased to an average of 4.7 hours by 2013-14.
Kathleen Wynne decided to hand back the monies that these companies had forfeited for non-performance and then buy them new equipment.The auditor reported that the Wynne government waived $4.8 million of $13.3 million in fines levied against contractors in the winter of 2013/14, while another $5.2 million was being reassessed, reducing the fines by up to 76 per cent.It's like Dalton McGuinty paying a huge corporation a billion dollars not to build a gas plant. The malfeasance never ends.
Carillion has eight contracts with the province - worth $87 million a year - to maintain highways around Chatham, London, Peel and Halton regions, Simcoe, Huntsville, Thunder Bay, Bancroft and the Kingston area.Who owns Carillion and how much do they contribute to the Liberal Party of Ontario?
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This past winter, the service cuts hit home. The explanation given was a reduction in the number of plows and the closure of three salt yards in Northumberland County.Despite measures such as this the provincial Liberals are still running a horrendous deficit. Where is all that money going?
The current contractor, Carillion Canada Inc., is only allowed nine plows compared to the 17 run the previous company, Cruickshank Construction. Basically, the service was cut in half to save money.
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RELATED2: Dalton's Green Plan goes awry...
What else are Kathleen Wynn's corporate friends at Carillion up to?
Sundridge, ON – On November 12, 2013, the Ontario Court of Justice ordered Carillion Canada Inc. to pay a total penalty of $250,000 for violating two counts of the Fisheries Act for “the harmful alteration, disruption, or destruction of fish habitat”, and one count of violating Section 36(3) for “depositing or permitting the deposit of a deleterious substance into waters frequented by fish.”Not surprisingly, the government itself was mixed up in this incident.
The violations stem from repeated sediment spills, and the subsequent destruction of fish habitat in Stirling Creek, which is part of the the Magnetawan River watershed near Parry Sound.
The sentencing decision for the Ontario Ministry of Transportation took place on September 24, 2013, when it was also ordered to pay a total penalty of $250,000.Anybody else seeing a pattern here?