Premier Ford deflects responsibility, defends move of ServiceOntario kiosks into Staples and Walmart

Ontario Premier Doug Ford deflected responsibility and continued to defend a sole-sourced deal that will see the closure of 11 ServiceOntario locations and move them into Staples and Walmart kiosks as all three opposition parties have spoken against it.

CityNews learned on Monday that the provincial government was giving Staples $1.75 million for the retrofitting costs as officials say the deal will save $900,000 over three years.

When pressed on why it was a sole-source deal and not opened up to other corporations for bidding, Ford said it was officials who negotiated.

“None of us dealt with this, the officials brought this to us, and there were about 12 companies that are looking to do this,” said Ford. “It’s no different than the federal government for Canada Post and Shoppers Drug Mart.”

He added once again that the deal is good news for Ontarians because of the extended hours Staples and Walmart will offer for the kiosks.

“We’re saving a million dollars, and we’re getting convenience, and we’re going to continue doing it right across the province to make sure people have the opportunity that may work during the day,” said Ford. “I heard from an employee from Staples, and they said their phone’s ringing off the hook.”

The provincial government has so far not responded to requests to see the business case or share more information on where the savings will come from.

The Ontario Liberal Party and the Green Party have written letters to the Auditor General, asking to conduct a value-for-money audit on the move.

Ontario NDP leader Marit Stiles also urged Premier Ford to release the business case for the deal on Tuesday.

“It seems to me that this government has made a very strange decision behind closed doors that nobody I know, nobody we can find, asked for. In fact, they’re just scrambling to justify a decision that no one asked for,” said Stiles.

“We’ve seen the Conservatives give millions of taxpayer dollars to American-owned corporations through sole-sourced contracts. We want them to come clean about these deals, and we want them to make the contracts public.”

She adds it’s clear that U.S.-based corporations will profit from the move.

“We know that they’re working in the interest of select insiders. In this case, it’s a major U.S. corporation. It’s clear that this is more about Staples selling printers than it is about improving service for Ontarians,” Stiles continued.

“It has nothing to do with delivering government services.”

Staples has said, in a job posting shared online, that it’s looking to monetize the arrangement.

“The Regional Service Manager-Service Ontario, in alignment with the organization’s strategy and tactics, will execute accordingly to influence the monetization of Service Ontario traffic,” read the posting from Staples.

Six ServiceOntario outlets will officially move into the new Staples Canada locations starting on Thursday and offer extended hours in the evening and on weekends.