CLARK REPEATS CALL FOR AUDIT BEFORE PAN AM BONUSES PAID OUT

QUEEN’S PARK – Today in Question Period, Ontario PC Tourism, Culture and Sport Critic MPP Steve Clark stood up for Ontario taxpayers by repeating his demand for a full audit of the Pan Am Games before the Liberal government rewards Games executives with lavish bonuses.

“Where I come from, you don’t pay a bonus without proof it was earned,” Clark told the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport. “Speaker, if the Minister is so confident Games executives delivered, why oppose being accountable and transparent by having an independent audit before cutting these cheques?”

Ontarians were outraged last week to discover the government plans to hand already well-paid Pan Am Games executives extravagant bonus payments of up to $450,000 each without even knowing if the Games came in on budget.

The government admits the Games needed a $74-million bailout from taxpayers and Premier Wynne has contradicted the Minister’s claim they were on budget when she said the final numbers aren’t in yet.

Taxpayers have learned they can’t trust Liberal math, said Clark, who tabled a motion at the Public Accounts Committee asking the Auditor General to conduct a value-for-money probe to determine the Games’ true cost.

The motion will be debated at the committee tomorrow.

Clark said it’s an insult the Liberals continue to reject his call for an audit while rushing to squander $5.7 million on bonuses at a time when Ontario’s home and community care system is in a crisis.

“The Minister continues to defend these bonus payments and won’t even write the committee to support my motion. This is just more proof the priorities of Premier Wynne and her government are completely out of step with those of Ontario families,” said Clark.