The town of Brighton, Ont., had planned to hire Atlas Strategic Advisors to help it lobby for help with upgrades to its water treatment facility worth tens of millions of dollars.
Ontario PC Leader Doug Ford and his Deputy Chief of Staff Amin Massoudi, right, return from a private chat following a campaign event in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., on Friday, June 1, 2018.A small town in eastern Ontario has seen its plans to hire a well-connected lobbying firm to help it net infrastructure funding fall apart after comments from councillors about “backroom” conversations with am administration that “talks to their friends” were used to “embarrass” the Ford government., Ont.
Bureaucrats recommended hiring Atlas, which is run by a former Ford government staffer, Amin Massoudi. Among other credentials, Massoudi served as Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s principal secretary from June 2019 to August 2022 and as deputy chief of staff for a year before that. He said his “only disappointment” with the plan to hire Atlas was that it “would have been nice if one of them had been a former chief of staff to the premier” to push the town’s projects forward.“As much as it sometimes burns me that this government sometimes talks to their friends more than to other folks, might as well work for us from time to time,” Coun. Jeff Wheeldon said.
Despite the comments around Brighton’s council table, Housing Minister Paul Calandra dismissed the idea that hiring lobbyists would get municipalities to the front of the line. While Ostrander said he is able to call cabinet ministers or even the premier to advocate for Brighton, a lobbyist would be able to get the attention of staff potentially working on the application Brighton has submitted.“I think when the term ‘backroom’ was used, that was the intention, it was to say we need someone at the provincial staffing level to communicate what we can’t through, I guess what we call the front door, which is the political level.
Brighton Ontario Politics Canada Politics
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Ford to recall some pickup trucks in CanadaFord is set to recall some pickup trucks in Canada due to potential tail light failure.
Read more »
Ford mulls offering gas-powered vehicles, hybrids in Europe beyond 2030Explore stories from Atlantic Canada.
Read more »
Costs of Peel Region split grow to $4.4M raising question of reimbursement by Ford governmentThe Region of Peel is asking the Ford government to pay $1.5 million of the costs, which will otherwise fall to local taxpayers in Brampton, Caledon and Mississauga.
Read more »
Ford government plans to introduce new legislation to better protect student informationThe provincial government says it plans to introduce regulatory changes that aim to 'better safeguard' student information from being 'stolen or used inappropriately.'
Read more »
NHTSA says it has ‘significant safety concerns’ over Ford’s recall of more than 42,000 SUVsThe U.S. auto safety agency said Ford’s plan ‘does not address the root cause of the issue and does not proactively call for the replacement of defective fuel injectors prior to their failure’
Read more »
Ford government plans to introduce new legislation to 'better safeguard' student informationThe provincial government says it plans to introduce regulatory changes that aim to 'better safeguard' student information from being 'stolen or used inappropriately.'
Read more »