LT
Administrator
April 02, 2007
MCGUINTY WON’T DENY INVOLVEMENT OF CAMPAIGN MANAGER IN LOTTERY COVER-UP
Progressive Conservative Party Leader John Tory today said it’s clear Dalton McGuinty’s key political fixers directed a cover-up of the ongoing lottery scandal.
“The odds are long at winning the lottery, but they’re even worse under Dalton McGuinty. His first instinct is to cover-up the problem instead of fixing it,” said Tory.
In the Legislature today, Tory asked Dalton McGuinty three times how many meetings Don Guy, his campaign manager and former chief of staff, attended to discuss the $100 million lottery scandal and the government’s response. Dalton McGuinty refused to answer the question and wouldn’t deny his campaign manager’s involvement in a scheme to discredit accusations of fraud, instead of dealing with the problem. Media have previously reported the involvement of two senior McGuinty advisors in the cover-up scheme.
“If Don Guy wasn’t involved, why didn’t Dalton McGuinty just say ‘no’ when I asked three times?” Tory said. “If he was there, why was he there? And why did they turn first to trying to invent a distracting misleading explanation instead of getting to the bottom of the fraud?
Tory added: “Dalton McGuinty once again dodged accountability for his government’s actions today and it’s clear his political fixers were heavily involved in trying to cover-up Lottogate. Given the way Dalton McGuinty chose to respond to my questions today, what else could anyone conclude but that his former chief of staff was involved in meetings to cover-up this scandal.”
April 03, 2007
WHAT ELSE IS MCGUINTY HIDING IN LOTTOGATE COVER-UP?
Progressive Conservative Party Leader John Tory today pointed to further evidence of attempts by Dalton McGuinty’s office to cover-up the lottery scandal before it became public.
“When people buy lottery tickets, they are buying a dream,” said Tory. “They expect that the system is going to be fair and trustworthy. They expect that you will take those interests to heart and deal with problems when you find out about them. But instead of fixing this up, you tried to cover it up.”
Tory started off Question Period today by noting with sadness the passing of Bob Edmonds, who battled Ontario Lottery and Gaming for a prize that was taken away from him by an unscrupulous retailer. He then revealed that according to PC sources, Wilson Lee, now Chief of Staff to Minister David Caplan, attended a meeting on August 30, 2006 where he said the Premier’s Office thought there was nothing to the lottery scandal and it should be treated as a communications problem. That meeting was held well before the scandal became public.
“Dalton McGuinty thinks this is a communications issue when people’s money is being stolen,” Tory said. “Instead of fixing the problem, he sent in his political spin doctors to try and downplay the story.”
Tory also failed to get answers as to any steps the McGuinty government is taking to recover the $12.5 million which, according to the Ombudsman, found its way into improper hands.
Tory added: “Quite simply, the more fingerprints we dust for on the Lottogate scene, the more often we find people from Dalton McGuinty’s inner circle and the Minister’s inner circle. We don’t need to call in CSI to figure out what’s going on – the facts are speaking for themselves. There is a cover-up here.”
MCGUINTY WON’T DENY INVOLVEMENT OF CAMPAIGN MANAGER IN LOTTERY COVER-UP
Progressive Conservative Party Leader John Tory today said it’s clear Dalton McGuinty’s key political fixers directed a cover-up of the ongoing lottery scandal.
“The odds are long at winning the lottery, but they’re even worse under Dalton McGuinty. His first instinct is to cover-up the problem instead of fixing it,” said Tory.
In the Legislature today, Tory asked Dalton McGuinty three times how many meetings Don Guy, his campaign manager and former chief of staff, attended to discuss the $100 million lottery scandal and the government’s response. Dalton McGuinty refused to answer the question and wouldn’t deny his campaign manager’s involvement in a scheme to discredit accusations of fraud, instead of dealing with the problem. Media have previously reported the involvement of two senior McGuinty advisors in the cover-up scheme.
“If Don Guy wasn’t involved, why didn’t Dalton McGuinty just say ‘no’ when I asked three times?” Tory said. “If he was there, why was he there? And why did they turn first to trying to invent a distracting misleading explanation instead of getting to the bottom of the fraud?
Tory added: “Dalton McGuinty once again dodged accountability for his government’s actions today and it’s clear his political fixers were heavily involved in trying to cover-up Lottogate. Given the way Dalton McGuinty chose to respond to my questions today, what else could anyone conclude but that his former chief of staff was involved in meetings to cover-up this scandal.”
April 03, 2007
WHAT ELSE IS MCGUINTY HIDING IN LOTTOGATE COVER-UP?
Progressive Conservative Party Leader John Tory today pointed to further evidence of attempts by Dalton McGuinty’s office to cover-up the lottery scandal before it became public.
“When people buy lottery tickets, they are buying a dream,” said Tory. “They expect that the system is going to be fair and trustworthy. They expect that you will take those interests to heart and deal with problems when you find out about them. But instead of fixing this up, you tried to cover it up.”
Tory started off Question Period today by noting with sadness the passing of Bob Edmonds, who battled Ontario Lottery and Gaming for a prize that was taken away from him by an unscrupulous retailer. He then revealed that according to PC sources, Wilson Lee, now Chief of Staff to Minister David Caplan, attended a meeting on August 30, 2006 where he said the Premier’s Office thought there was nothing to the lottery scandal and it should be treated as a communications problem. That meeting was held well before the scandal became public.
“Dalton McGuinty thinks this is a communications issue when people’s money is being stolen,” Tory said. “Instead of fixing the problem, he sent in his political spin doctors to try and downplay the story.”
Tory also failed to get answers as to any steps the McGuinty government is taking to recover the $12.5 million which, according to the Ombudsman, found its way into improper hands.
Tory added: “Quite simply, the more fingerprints we dust for on the Lottogate scene, the more often we find people from Dalton McGuinty’s inner circle and the Minister’s inner circle. We don’t need to call in CSI to figure out what’s going on – the facts are speaking for themselves. There is a cover-up here.”