Taxpayers footed a $450,000 one-time premium for the coverage, which the provincial government should terminate and salvage whatever cash value remains, Tory MPP Frank Klees (Newmarket—Aurora) told reporters Wednesday.
Klees, who has been his party’s lead critic on the ORNGE scandal that has resulted in a criminal investigation by Ontario Provincial Police, said the policy was with Sun Life Assurance.
“Where did the $450,000 come from to pay that premium?” he asked as the legislature’s public accounts committee continues to investigate ORNGE after a series of investigative stories in the Star resulted in Mazza’s departure and a new board of directors.
The policy was dated Nov. 29, 2010 through ORNGE for-profit subsidiary ORNGE Global GP Inc., one of several arms the air ambulance agency set up during Mazza’s tenure, according to a two-page document entitled “assignment of life insurance policy.”
The document, recently found buried in a massive batch of papers released in January, listed ORNGE Global Management as the beneficiary of the policy.
ORNGE officials said they were not aware of a policy but were checking. Because ORNGE Global is bankrupt, all its documents have been turned over to the bankruptcy trustee Duff and Phelps.
Health Minister Deb Matthews, who last week reintroduced legislation to bring ORNGE under tighter provincial control, said she did not know about the insurance coverage.
“I’m sad to say that nothing shocks me any more when it comes to Chris Mazza,” she told reporters.
The Star has reported Mazza received $4.6 million in salary, loans, bonuses and cash advances in his last two years, along with perks like ski trips expensed as medical education sessions.
New Democrats backed the Tory call for attempts to recover any funds possible from a policy that appears to go well beyond what a chief executive should have in life insurance.
“Ten million dollars seems a little bit excessive but everything at ORNGE was excessive,” said NDP health critic France Gélinas.
“This is taxpayers money that never should have gone there in the first place . . . this is our money.”
Klees also raised concerns that questionable business practices at ORNGE prompted the government to call in the OPP a year ago but there have been no details released on the investigation — and no charges.
“We should at least have a status report . . . I’d like to know about the scope of the investigation,” he said.
Klees asked that OPP Commissioner Chris Lewis be called to testify before the committee.
“I don’t think it’s interfering. I want to know that the OPP is taking this seriously.”
Original Article
Source: thestar.com
Author: Rob Ferguson
No comments:
Post a Comment