The unusual appeal for financial help for the football team coached by Ford was made on March 3 — a Saturday — and there was urgency to the request, sources say.
Despite controversy swirling around his gridiron activities, the mayor refused comment on Thursday.
During a one-minute scrum at a ground-breaking for the 2015 Pan American Games at the University of Toronto Scarborough,Ford ignored two questions on the Don Bosco affair before walking away.
Unlike most in Ford’s Conservative inner circle, Provost is a federal Liberal and is on relatively good terms with Grits at Queen’s Park.
He briefly served as the mayor’s interim chief of staff after Amir Remtulla quit in July.
Provost, as Ford’s director of stakeholder relations, made detailed demands for funding last winter. He noted the Rexdale high school needed:
• $953,233.89 for a football field
• $400,000 for bleachers
• $337,125 for a track
• $154,700 for lights
• $140,439.28 for miscellaneous bonds, insurance, and contingency funds
• $112,500 for paving, walls, and steps
• $80,929.12 for earthworks
$41,800 for fencing
• $35,500 for an electric scoreboard
• $33,400 for “sport finishing”
• $24,800 for a drainage system
There was also $162,009.91 for consulting fees, geotechnical advice and testing, and $321,936.84 in HST.
While the total bill for the project would have been $2,798,374.04, the provincial government did not hand over a dime.
That’s in part because the infrastructure stimulus program that covered such recreational facilities had already expired by the time Provost contacted the province.
Officials at Queen’s Park suggested he ask Ottawa for assistance, insiders say.
Mike Winterburn, spokesperson for federal Infrastructure Minister Denis Lebel, said Infrastructure Canada does not have any funding application for Don Bosco and that Ford’s office never contacted Lebel’s office on the matter.
Provost declined comment, referring questions to Ford’s press secretary, who did not respond.
Prior to Provost’s request, five Toronto sports fields had received money through the provincial infrastructure stimulus fund, but Don Bosco wasn’t one of them.
The Catholic school board says it has also requested federal funding for sports field improvements at five other city schools, including Don Bosco.
Ford — known for coaching the Don Bosco Eagles as well as a summer team, the Rexdale Raiders, which also practices at the school — has come under fire of late for using his office to bolster his pigskin passion and his family business.
In 2010, he negotiated, with city council approval, a Section 37 agreement with a developer to provide a $75,000 contribution to improvements to the change rooms at Don Bosco.
His young aides have helped him run the Eagles using a City of Toronto car and he personally asked senior municipal officials in July to approve road repairs outside the building of the family firm, Deco Labels and Tags.
The mayor has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in his football activities.
Original Article
Source: the star
Author: Robert Benzie, Daniel Dale and Robyn Doolittle
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