Ontario's Premier Accountability Dashboard · Queen's Park Watch
David Piccini
Estimated cost to Ontario
$1.0B
Formerly Ontario Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks (approximately 2022–2025), during which period permits to harm at-risk species increased over 6,000% since 2009, the province never denied a single permit application, and 10 of 15 advisory committee members worked for industry — half as registered lobbyists, as documented by the 2021 Auditor General. Subsequently appointed Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development, where he came under investigation by the Integrity Commissioner following a 2025 Auditor General report finding $1.3 billion in Skills Development Fund grants were awarded in a manner that was "not fair, transparent or accountable" — with lobbyist-backed companies receiving funding despite low scores while high-scoring applicants were rejected.
Connected Scandals
Ontario's Auditor General found that $750 million in Skills Development Fund grants were awarded in a process that was "not fair, transparent or accountable." Ford's own campaign manager Kory Teneycke runs a lobbying firm whose clients received over $100 million — nearly 3x any other firm. The Premier's nephew's former chief of staff registered as a lobbyist immediately after leaving the Premier's office, and his clients received grants. Labour Minister David Piccini's office overrode civil servants' recommendations in over half of cases reviewed.
As the minister responsible for the Skills Development Fund, Piccini was personally and closely involved in selecting funding recipients. The Auditor General found the $1.3B selection process was not fair or transparent. The Integrity Commissioner opened a formal investigation in December 2025 following complaints from both the NDP and Liberals that Piccini may have contravened the Members' Integrity Act.
Internal government emails show Ontario completed years-long recovery plans for endangered wolves, butterflies, and bats — then secretly decided not to release them to the public, weeks after passing Bill 5 to eliminate the legal requirement to do so.
As Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks in the years leading up to Bill 5, Piccini oversaw the ministry during the period the Auditor General documented a 6,000%+ increase in permits to harm protected species, zero permit denials, and an advisory committee dominated by industry lobbyists — setting the conditions for the eventual legislative rollback.
Under cover of a tariff emergency, Doug Ford passed omnibus legislation that repealed Ontario's Endangered Species Act, created law-free "special economic zones" where cabinet can suspend any provincial rule for handpicked companies, and quietly cancelled environmental assessments for a landfill owned by $200,000 PC donors — repeating the exact playbook of the Greenbelt scandal with no limits and no oversight.
As former Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks before 2025, Piccini presided over the conditions documented by the 2021 Auditor General — a 6,000%+ increase in permits to harm protected species, zero permit denials, and an advisory committee dominated by industry lobbyists — that Bill 5 subsequently made permanent.