Top Labour Ministry aide departs Ford government days after minister shuffled out

Days after David Piccini was shuffled out of his role as Minister of Labour, his top aide is also departing government, Global News has learned, raising questions about the government’s response to the $2.5 billion skills development fund scandal.

Piccini has been facing a months-long investigation by the Ontario Integrity Commissioner looking into whether any ethics rules at Queen’s Park were violated when millions of dollars of taxpayer funding were doled out as part of the fund.

The probe was sparked by an auditor general investigation which raised concerns over how the government’s signature fund was meted out, slamming the process as “not fair, transparent or accountable.”

The auditor revealed the Minister of Labour’s office was intimately involved in decision-making and distribution of the fund, that low-scoring applicants were often prioritized over higher-scoring applicants and that some applicants were successful after they hired lobbyists connected to the Progressive Conservative Party.

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While sources indicated Premier Doug Ford was awaiting the results of the ethics probe before shuffling his cabinet, the province has not received clarity on the status of the report or when it could possibly be made public.

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On Thursday, Piccini was moved from the position he had held since 2023 and was appointed as the Minister of Infrastructure overseeing a massive $236 billion capital spending plan.

“I think it’s a natural move. He trained, over the last two years, close to 750,000 people. Now, it’s a natural move to go into infrastructure,” Ford said immediately after the shuffle last week.

Days after the ministerial shake-up, Piccini’s chief of staff in the Ministry of Labour also departed his post, according to a memo from Ford’s office.

“I would like to thank [the chief of staff] for their many contributions to this government and our province,” said Ford’s top aide Travis Kann in an internal memo obtained by Global News.

“I have no doubt there are exciting things ahead for each of them and that they will continue to contribute greatly to our party and conservative movement.”

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Global News asked the premier’s office about the circumstances surrounding the departure and whether it was voluntary or a dismissal.

Ford’s office, which typically declined to comment on human resources matters, did not respond to the questions.

Taken together, however, opposition parties say the government is preemptively trying to get ahead of the ethics investigation.

“They want it all to go away,” said Liberal interim leader John Fraser. “They don’t want to have the people who were at the centre of the scandal hanging around, available and part of the team.”

Fraser said he suspected the government hoped staffing changes could help move on from the scandal.

“They’re hoping by shuffling the deck, shuffling some chiefs out [that] it’s all going to go away. Everyone’s going to forget. It’s not important. Nothing happened.”