For immediate release:
March 2, 2006

Barrett accuses Premier of undermining the integrity of Legislature

Queen’s Park—MPP Toby Barrett spoke out late last night in the Legislature against Premier McGuinty’s refusal to fire his Minister of Transportation

“I’m disappointed with our Premier’s lack of action with respect to the reckless behaviour of his appointed Minister of Transport,” Barrett told the Legislature.  “Rather than choking off debate and compromising the integrity of this Legislature, I’m convinced that the Premier should be seeking his minister’s resignation.”

“Every member in this chamber gets taken down a notch with respect to public esteem, especially when a Premier tolerates a politician such as the Minister of Transport getting caught visiting the cookie jar on company time” Barrett added.  “That’s a price I’m not willing to pay.”

The Premier has been under heavy fire in the Legislature over his refusal to dismiss his Minister of Transportation in light of the Integrity Commissioner’s report accusing him of “egregiously reckless behaviour.”

“This scandal is contributing to our democratic decline,” Barrett informed the Legislature.  “Who wouldn’t be skeptical of politicians after seeing the Premier blithely ignore the Integrity Commissioner’s report on Mr. Takhar?”

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For more information, please contact MPP Toby Barrett at (416) 325-8404, (519) 428-0446, or 1-800-903-8629