Ontario Labour Minister defends skills fund as union leader calls attacks ‘ridiculous’

Ontario’s Labour Minister told a business audience that he takes full responsibility for a controversial skills-training fund, after a prominent construction union leader whose organization received tens of millions from the program called attacks on the government ridiculous.

David Piccini has been on the defensive for weeks about the $2.5-billion Skills Development Fund, a marquee program of the Ford government that gives money to unions, employers and other organizations to retrain workers. An October report from the province’s Auditor-General found that the distribution of $1.3-billion in grants under the program was “not fair, transparent or accountable,” and raised concerns about the use of lobbyists to secure funding.