RUNCIMAN: EXPLAIN WHY SEX OFFENDER REGISTRY ROBBED OF FUNDS
Opposition Leader Bob Runciman today called on Dalton McGuinty to tell Ontarians how much money was diverted from the provincial sex offender registry and where it went.
“Dalton McGuinty owes the people of Ontario an explanation,” said Runciman. “They deserve to know why money earmarked for the province’s sex offender registry was diverted and how this money was spent.”
According to media reports over the weekend, tomorrow’s Auditor General’s report is expected to mention that money was diverted from the province’s sex offender registry into ‘other police initiatives’. In the Legislature today, Runciman asked Dalton McGuinty to explain where the money had been spent and if his office or the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services directed the Ontario Provincial Police to divert these funds.
“We all know that the McGuinty Liberals keep asking Ontario’s police to do more with less,” said Runciman. “You need only look at the ongoing situation in Caledonia, which is now nearing two years, to see the challenges and financial pressures the OPP face on a daily basis.”
Runciman said the McGuinty Liberals initially backed away from providing $700,000 to the Toronto Police to track sex offenders. He also pointed to the government’s hesitation in funding this project for a full seven months but said the McGuinty Liberals had no problem rushing $32 million out the door in a year-end slush fund.
“It’s pretty clear where the priorities of this government lie. This is a tool that is critically important in monitoring the movements and whereabouts of sex offenders in the province of Ontario,” said Runciman. “It’s time to make community safety and protecting our children a priority.”
e to the nature of the misconduct involved and the Auditor General’s rejection of the government’s explanations for this boondoggle, criminal misconduct remains a potential explanation,” said Runciman. “The Attorney General’s duties are owed to the people of Ontario, not the Liberal party. A police investigation is the only answer.”
