Simone Smith
It seems like Premier Doug Ford is having a streak of bad luck.
The NDP has confirmed the RCMP is investigating the shadowy group Vaughan Working Families for potentially breaking the law, and they are demanding that Premier Doug Ford and Education Minister Stephen Lecce step up to assist with the investigation, especially because of what they know about the ads. Not to mention, it has been reported that there is a cozy relationship between Ford, Lecce, and the developers behind Vaughan Working Families.
The RCMP told the NDP on Friday they have launched an investigation into Vaughan Working Families’ most recent ads attacking teachers. After the NDP asked Elections Ontario to investigate, Elections Ontario concluded they saw the ads as “apparent contraventions” of the law and asked for a full police investigation to see if charges are necessary.
“Teachers were under attack from the Ford government, and they got some help in that attack from Vaughan Working Families in the form of an advertising blitz. Now the RCMP is investigating the shadowy group called Vaughan Working Families for their part in attacking teachers,” said NDP MPP Peter Tabuns. “Mr. Ford and Mr. Lecce should tell Ontarians everything they know about these ads that came directly from their insider donors and buddies.”
Vaughan Working Families’ chair is Michael DeGasperis, and on April 24th, The Toronto Star revealed that DeGasperis, hosted Ford and Lecce in a private luxury suite in Miami for a Florida Panthers NHL game in December 2018.
The DeGasperis family businesses stand to profit off at least three Ford government Minister’s Zoning Orders (MZOs), including one in Brampton, one in Vaughan, and one in Caledon, and it was also discovered that DeGasperis and Lecce worked together in Conservative campaigns for over a decade.
