Doug Ford launches independent inquiry into Ontario’s finances
TORONTO — An independent inquiry led by a former British Columbia premier will look into Ontario’s finances, newly elected Premier Doug Ford said Tuesday as he accused the former Liberal government of cooking the books and faking the deficit numbers.
Ford said the Independent Financial Commission of Inquiry, and a line-by-line audit covering the past 15 years of Liberal rule, will help the new Progressive Conservatives right the province’s fiscal path in short order.
“I want the people to be presented with a full, honest and accurate picture of Ontario’s finances,” he said in a news conference. “You deserve to know where your money is going, how it was being wasted and how we’re going to fix it.”
The commission will be led by Gordon Campbell, a former B.C. Liberal leader who governed from 2001 to 2011, and will have until Aug. 30 to report on its findings.