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Ontario’s auditor general appears to be conducting investigations into special education and child care, according to internal government documents, potentially offering fresh insight into how the province funds and handles the two key files.
The information is contained within a briefing document prepared for Education Minister Paul Calandra in March and obtained by Global News using freedom of information laws, which says there are “active audits” underway on both topics.
An auditor general investigation into the Ford government’s Greenbelt land swap, published in 2023, turned the controversy into a scandal, while reports into Ontario Place, the Ontario Science Centre and emergency room staffing left ministers with difficult questions to answer.
It is unclear when the potential special education and child care audits were started or when exactly they’ll be published. The auditor general has far-reaching power under Ontario legislation to compel government documents and dig deep into various files.
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The internal briefing documents also suggest the auditor general will be looking into child care, an area where the government has made major changes to attempt to implement a federal vision for $10-per-day care.
Ontario was the last province to sign onto a child-care deal with former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government in March 2022. The agreement was worth $13.2 billion, the two governments said at the time.
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