The Ontario NDP is calling for Elections Ontario to investigate after over $40,000 of donations made to the PC Party were linked to a company awarded a sole-source contract.
FH Health was given the contract to administer COVID-19 vaccines at several clinics throughout the GTA. Donations by several individuals linked to the company have been uncovered.
“It simply defies belief that this many people with ties to the same company would independently decide to make maximum donations to Doug Ford’s party at the same time in the same amount,” said NDP Ethics critic Taras Natyshak. “The more we learn about this situation, the more it stinks, which is why I’m asking Elections Ontario to investigate.”
Natyshak said an investigation is needed to identify who knew what and when.
“We are asking the auditor general and the chief electoral officer to investigate the nature of these companies’ donations. To investigate whether they potentially were made in a coordinated fashion. Coordinated either on the side of the corporation and the entity, in this case, FH Health, and its administrators and officers and their family members and who they were talking with on the party side,” said Natyshak.
Section 19 of Ontario’s Elections Finances Act forbids contributions that come from corporations or groups of people and prohibits parties from knowingly accepting this type of illicit donation.
The office of the Solicitor General indicates the contract followed government procurement directives.
"FH Health was successful in a competitive procurement process conducted by Ontario Health to augment Ontario’s COVID-19 mobile testing capacity. As FH Health already had an existing relationship with Ontario Health to deliver COVID-19 testing capacity, the Ministry of the Solicitor General entered into an emergency procurement with FH Health to establish additional vaccine clinics – to urgently accelerate boosters for education workers before the return of in-person learning – as they already had physical capacity and Health Human Resources supports in place," said Stephen Warner with the office of the Solicitor General.
