That’s what the Ontario premier said when accusations surfaced that his government had sold influence.
a "fundraiser" was held at the home of the brother of Minister of Finance, Greg Sorbara. In addition to hors d’oeuvres and cocktails, the $10,000 admission price included access to the Finance Minister as well as Premier Dalton McGuinty and other powers within the Liberal Party of Ontario.
at the centre of the controversy is developer Silvio DeGasperis. He plopped down his $10 grand and was able to obtain private meetings with McGuinty as well as other powerful provincial Liberals. after the soiree and these meetings, the Ontario government passed its Greenbelt legislation, freezing the development of land surrounding Toronto.
DeGasperis had two parcels of land that was affected by the Greenbelt legislation. One parcel just east of Toronto consisted of 2,400 acres and was included in the area where development is now prohibited. a smaller 100 acre parcel, located in Vaughan was taken out of the area that is affected by the province’s legislation.
DeGasperis is, of course upset that his larger parcel of land falls within the Greenbelt legislation. The value of the included land dropped significantly and the developer estimates that its inclusion in the Greenbelt area cost him close to a quarter of a billion dollars. DeGasperis claims that the Liberals had told him that the larger parcel of land would not be included and then reneged. He’s naturally upset that he didn’t get his way considering that he forked over $10,000 to sip cocktails with the premier and other Liberal Party bigwigs.
McGuinty ignored the fact DeGasperis managed to get his smaller parcel of land exempt from the legislation, pointed to the larger parcel that was included and proudly declared that his government can’t be bought. Now in examining the premier’s statement we have to remember that this is the guy that broke about every major promise that he made during the election campaign. He imposed a whopping new health care tax after telling Ontarians that they wouldn’t pay one penny more in taxes under a McGuinty government. He promised to rollback tolls on Highway 407 even though the government lacked the authority to do so. as he was making his "my government can’t be bought" speech, hydro rates were poised to increase for a second time since candidate McGuinty promised to continue the freeze on those rates that were implemented by the Conservatives. So when the Honourable Premier of Ontario says that his government can’t be bought it raises the question, how much does it cost? (Pop quiz: the cost of buying the government is: (a) $10,000; (b) $ 1,000; (c) $100; (d) a penny; (e) any of the above.) The fact that the government exempted DeGasperis’ 100 acres from the Greenbelt legislation after the developer gained access to the government by putting down $10,000 is proof that the Liberal Party of Ontario is approaching the sleaze of their federal cousins who they are now pretending not to get along with. The fact that DeGasperis didn’t get everything that he wanted is irrelevant.
Farmers and other property owners of lands that were affected by the government’s legislation and who couldn’t afford $10,000 to buy access to the powers that be were simply out of luck and said as much. McGuinty has shown that his government treats the rich a lot different than they treat the rest of the population.
an indication of just how low this government will stoop came when the Minister of Finance played the ethnic card. after Toronto Sun columnist Christina Blizzard wrote an article that was critical of Sorbara, he wrote her and accused the journalist of criticizing him because of his "Italian heritage". This government has no shame. They have no hesitation in pitting the rich against the poor or using ethnicity to achieve their objectives. If they remain in power for any length of time they will really catch up to the federal Liberals as far as sleaze and corruption are concerned. They allow the rich to buy access and when criticized for it, well, it’s only because Greg Sorbara is Italian.
Hopefully, when the next election takes place on October 4, 2007, the voters will say "ciao baby" to Dalton, Greg and company.