Many Ontarians are giving Doug Ford the side eye over a recent announcement that some ServiceOntario outlets will be closed and moved into Walmart and Staples locations. Others are also questioning why the premier does not have much to say when questioned about the move.
According to Premier Doug Ford, the decision to move several ServiceOntario locations into Walmarts and Staples is about convenience.
On Monday the premier said that the new ServiceOntario kiosk locations will be open until 9 p.m., making them more accessible for those who cannot make it to a location between the typical operating hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Ford shared that the province will be paying to retrofit the stores in order to open the kiosks. The province claims the move will save taxpayers $1 million.
“Asked about our ServiceOntario reporting, Premier Ford said “I’m so disappointed with Richard” but then went on to seemingly confirm my reporting that taxpayer dollars are being given to Staples and Walmart for store retrofits,” CityNews reporter Richard Southern posted to X, formerly known as Twitter on Monday.
“We’re going to help them” says Ford “At the end of the day It’s saving taxpayers over $1 million and it’s going to expand the hours” The government has not released any business case to substantiate this,” Southern’s post continued.
Ford’s comments come after CityNews broke the story that the government would be closing several ServiceOntario locations early this year and reopening them inside select Staples locations.
Richard Southern has already questioned the province as to how much the retrofitting of Walmart and Staples locations will cost taxpayers, and why the deal was “sole-source,” meaning it wasn’t open to bidding with other companies. The government has reportedly not responded to any of these requests.
Now Toronto reached out to the province to inquire how they calculated this move would save taxpayers $1 million, and why Staples and Walmart locations were chosen to house the kiosks.
“The official announcement is next week. We’ll be providing more details then,” Ivana Yelich, Deputy Chief of Staff for Media, Stakeholder Relations and Forward Planning for the premier’s office said in an email.
ONTARIANS REACT TO FORD KEEPING TIGHT-LIPPED
Following Ford’s comments on Monday, Ontarians have taken to social media to question a few things.
“Lol…just wonder how much the ON government is spending to “save” all that money. If you’re telling me that retrofitting a bunch of stores will cost less than $1M … well I have some swamp land on the Greenbelt you (can’t) buy,” joked one person on X.
“Our Service Ontario office is affected by this corrupt Ford decision…..there’s absolutely nothing wrong where it’s located right now… actually it’s very convenient. Moving it to Staples is the worst spot possible. Ford’s deals all need to be cancelled!!” another person commented.
While some people are calling for an investigation into the situation.
“This does not pass the smell test. The premier is no longer speaking for all 14 million ONTARIANS. Auditor General Shelley Spence, start investigating ASAP. Our tax $ are being squandered, on your watch. Accountability and transparency are values that must be restored.”
This comes after Green Party leader Mike Schreiner called on the Auditor General to do a value for money audit of the government’s plans for ServiceOntario.
While Ontario Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie has also spoken out.
“Once again, Doug Ford is catering to wealthy Conservative insiders instead of protecting the services Ontarians rely on,” Crombie said in a statement on January 15.
“These sole-source contracts are just another example of the desperate and shady practices taken by this scandal-plagued government, all in an attempt to change the channel away from their failures in healthcare and housing affordability.”
“The Premier needs to come clean and explain to Ontarians why they are footing the bill to retrofit multi-billion-dollar American businesses,” Crombie’s statement continued.
