Oshawa Port Authority: Valentine’s Day Came Early for Conservative Insiders

Sweetheart Deals for Friends and Donors of Conservative MP Flaherty, But No Love for Oshawa’s Citizens

February 14, 2012

OTTAWA – If you are close to your local Conservative MP and donated steadily in the past years, you could get a special Valentine’s Day card. Like an invitation to head a newly-created Port Authority. Or be appointed to an Ag Canada council. Or get $25 million dollars in taxpayers’ money to build an ethanol plan. The possibilities are endless – at least in Oshawa, where a tale of Conservative patronage is unravelling.

 

 

To recap the facts: Transport Canada takes control of Oshawa’s harbour by creating a Port Authority, against the explicit will of regional and city councils. The new director: Gary Valcour, riding association president for MP and Finance Minister Flaherty.

Also on the riding association board: Tim O’Connor, long-time Conservative donor who also managed Flaherty’s wife’s re-election campaign for Queen’s Park.

Now Tim O’Connor and his brothers want to build an ethanol plant, 12-storeys high, on port land. The city is vehemently against the plans, so are more than 3,300 citizens who wrote letters of protest.

To build it, the O’Connors are in the process of getting $25 million dollars of taxpayers’ money from Ag Canada. And who has ties already to that ministry? Tim O’Connor by sitting on the ministry’s Farm Products Council of Canada.

With free reign and no municipal oversight, newly-minted director Valcour can now rubberstamp his buddy’s ethanol refinery plans. NDP Transport Critic Olivia Chow asks: how much money does it take to get on Minister Flaherty’s Valentine’s Day list?

Transcript:

Valentine’s Day came early for Tim O’Connor and Gary Valcour.

Tim, who was the campaign manager for the Finance Minster’s wife, was appointed to the Farms Product Council of Canada last year.

And Gary, who is the Minister’s conservative riding President, will be heading up the new Oshawa Port Authority.

In return for these patronage roses it looks like these Conservative insiders will rubber stamp the construction and receive $ 25 million dollars for an ethanol refinery on the Oshawa waterfront.

This plan is opposed by local councils, but the owners of the company, Tim and his brothers are big Conservative donors.

The people of Oshawa are asking “how much money does it take to get onto the Finance Minister’s valentine’s list?”

Rewarding friends and political insiders is what this government does best, it’s just too bad they don’t have more love for the citizens on this special day.

 

Read more posts about: , , , , , , ,