Refusing To Go Along To Get Along

The stench of corruption and cronyism that permeates the Ford government here in Ontario is hard to ignore. (See Martin Regg Cohn's column on the latest example, the appointment of Ford pal Ron Taverner as the new and egregiously unqualified head of the OPP.) And while the times are indeed dark in this once proud province, with Ford cabinet members such as Christine Elliott and Caroline Mulroney regularly prostituting themselves, it is heartening to know that some people will not go along to get along, refusing to surrender their integrity, even when that refusal comes at a high cost.

One such person is Cindy Veinot. She deserves both our attention and our respect.

The Ontario government’s chief accountant resigned earlier this fall because she refused to sign off on Finance Minister Vic Fedeli’s inflated $15 billion deficit, the Star has learned.

Cindy Veinot, the provincial controller, quit in September because she “did not agree with accounting decisions made by the current government.”

The issue revolves around the purported size of the provincial deficit, team Ford contending it is $15 billion, while others regard the government co-sponsored Ontario Public Service Employees’ Union Pension Plan and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan as assets, lowering the deficit by about $5 billion.

It would seem that Ms. Veinot is well-qualified to offer an informed assessment:

Veinot, a leading expert on pension accounting who finished first among 63,000 candidates in the 1998 certified public accountants exam in the U.S., contends the holdings are an asset.

So afraid are the provincial Tories of her truth that they have blocked her from testifying at the 'transparency' standing committee examining the state of the province's finances:

Tory sources, speaking on condition of anonymity in order to discuss internal deliberations, admit there has been concern over what Veinot might say under oath.

And so it goes. Corruption and cronyism continue apace at Doug Ford's hectoring hands, with most willing to do what they can to curry and maintain his favour.

How it must gall the premier and his disciples that not all souls can be bought.