Ontario’s top civil servant told PC Party to remove partisan Washington trip ad

Ontario’s top civil servant raised concerns about Doug Ford’s visit to Washington D.C. when the Progressive Conservative Party used images from the government-supported trip for partisan commercials and presented a campaign videographer and photographer as government staff, according to a newly-released letter.

The controversy surrounds a mid-campaign trip Ford’s Progressive Conservative team took by private plane to Вашингтон D.C., с цел да се причисли към министър председателите на Канада на двудневна задача за антитариф, която приключи с посещаване в Белия дом.

Той пристигна, когато държавното управление беше в режим на гледане-дългогодишна спогодба, която пречи на политическата партия да употребява запаси на данъкоплатците за партизанските цели по време на WRIT интервал.

, до момента в който самото пътешестване е финансирано по време на независимото камари на Съединени американски щати. Commerce and “Fortress Am-Can ” brochures, were paid for by taxpayers.

Shortly after returning, the PC Party pushed a new campaign commercial to social media highlighting Ford, along with Progressive Conservative candidates Vic Fedeli and Stephen Lecce, walking through Washington, speaking with the Chamber of Commerce and meeting with premiers.

The commercial, which ended with the PC party logo and campaign slogan “Protect Ontario, ” immediately caught the attention of Michelle DiEmmanuel, Ontario’s Secretary of Cabinet, who ordered its removal.

“On the morning of February 14th, when I became aware that the video was posted on social media with the Progressive Conservative Party Campaign slogan and Party logo, I immediately reached out to the Premier’s Chief of Staff to request that the video of the mission not be used for campaign purposes, ” DiEmmanuel wrote in a letter to Liberal candidate John Fraser, who requested a review of the trip and video.

DiEmmanuel also raised issues with a videographer and photographer who travelled to Washington with Ford under the guise of being government employees but were, instead, campaign staff.

The two campaign staffers were “added to the list of staff attending the mission events by the Premier’s Office ” which, DiEmmanuel said, was an “error ” because neither was part of the Персоналът на офиса на Premier. Каза, че обстановката е образец за това, че Форд играе „ Бързо и свободно с разпоредбите “.

„ Разбира се, има нови въпроси по отношение на неговите фотоси във Вашингтон. Това е, което прави Форд “, сподели представител на Либералната партия. „ Той има нулево отношение към данъкоплатците на Онтарио и още по-малко за разпоредбите и конвенциите на нашата народна власт. “

Прогресивната консервативна партия отхвърли да дава отговор на въпроси по отношение на писмото и насочи всевъзможни въпроси към офиса на премиера. purposes.

Ford defended the trips saying he was cleared by the integrity commissioner, a point that was reiterated by DiEmmanuel who also shared her view that the trade-mission fell under the umbrella of “urgent business. ”

“Urgent business includes any actions or decisions that may be required by the government, in the public interest, to address a threat or other urgent matter, ” DiEmmanuel wrote in the Писмо.

Diemmanuel направи точка да отбрани визитата на Ford във Вашингтон и всяка поддръжка, финансирана от данъкоплатците, предоставена на водачите на PC при визитата му там. The public service, she said, was involved in the meetings with the Council of the Federation and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce event but fell within the standard duties of the civil service.

“The support provided by Ontario public servants to the Washington mission was reviewed by our Election Period Committee and was consistent with the organizational and logistical support public servants provide on government missions, ” DiEmmanuel said in the letter.

The top civil Слугата също по този начин акцентира, че „ 58 на 100 от присъстващите на Търговската камара са от Съединените щати “ и че канадските участници на събитието имат „ обилни ползи на Съединени американски щати “.