MPP Catherine Fife accused of ‘misusing’ her legislative email
Posted Feb 11, 2021 10:15:00 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Waterloo MPP Catherine Fife is being accused of misusing her Queen's Park legislative email account.
In an email to the Speaker Ted Arnott, Conservative MPP for Peterborough-Kawartha Dave Smith alleges Fife violated Section 30 (1) of the Members Integrity Act.
The email in question was one that was sent from her Queen's Park legislative account that was seeking feedback and input regarding the upcoming 2021 Ontario budget. The letter goes on to say that Fife identifies herself as the MPP for Waterloo and Opposition finance critic.
Smith said in the letter that the email states “I am asking that you ensure both the government and official opposition hears your recommendations and advice on the upcoming budget.”
The letter said at the end of Fife's email, it included a link to a partisan website affiliated with the New Democratic Party of Ontario which includes a “donation” button at the top of the web page.
Smith's letter said it's a clear violation of the Members Integrity Act.
“The member is using legislative resources, her legislative stature, and role as parliamentary critic to promote partisan resources, which included direct solicitation of a financial contribution as the only way to provide input regarding the budget consultation process,” the letter stated.
Catherine Fife was a guest on the Mike Farwell Show on 570 NEWS Thursday morning where she responded to the accusations that MPP Smith has put forward. She said that once her office found out about the mistake, it was corrected.
“There was an error, and we used the wrong email. We corrected it as soon as possible,” said Fife, “the goal of putting out that email was actually to collect feedback on the budget 2021 process because with this government, it has decided to only have behind closed-doors consultation on budget 2021,” she said.
Fife also took the opportunity as finance critic to push back against the Ford government.
“We feel strongly that the people of this province should have a say of where the money is going. This is the first government in 30 years that has not had a multi-partisan open public process around budget consultations. “What I have said to everyone on this issue is that when you make a mistake, you own it and fix it but I'm asking the government to also fix their mistake by not consulting with the people of this province on budget 2021,” said Fife.
