Lindo: Doug Ford and PC MPPs vote for Charles McVety, and against the values of Ontarians

QUEEN’S PARK – Laura Mae Lindo (Kitchener Centre) has released a statement after the Ford government’s MPPs voted to hand out a special favour to Ford’s friend and unrepentant bigot Charles McVety by passing legislation Monday to give him the right to call his organization a university with the power to grant degrees in arts and sciences:

“Doug Ford and his entire PC caucus have made very clear where they stand: they are fully endorsing Charles McVety and his hateful views. By passing this legislation, they are attacking the integrity and credibility of our province’s post-secondary education system, and are sending a message to Ontarians that the Ford government is standing firmly behind McVety’s appalling record of Islamophobia, transphobia and homophobia. Everyone knows this is a shameless political favour for Doug Ford’s friend Charles McVety.

Ontarians have clearly told the Ford government that this legislation puts gay and trans people as well as racialized people at risk, leaving them more vulnerable to discrimination. The legislation has been strongly opposed by the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and the National Council of Canadian Muslims, as well as the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations and the faculties of several universities.

The NDP has revealed the cozy personal relationships between Doug Ford’s cabinet and Charles McVety, who, managed to secure this big, golden goose favour without having ever registered as a lobbyist in Ontario. We have also revealed troubling financial arrangements - including more than $850,000 in loans going to McVety and his immediate family in the form of loans, even while the school is in deficit. We have asked Elections Canada and Elections Ontario to launch an investigation into McVety’s political donations to Doug Ford, that were never reported in his financial returns.

The NDP will continue to stand alongside Ontarians who are standing up and speaking out against the hate and discrimination that Charles McVety represents, and to fight back against this attack on our shared values by Doug Ford and his allies.”