The company building Toronto’s $92-million ferries is about to face trial for corruption
The shipbuilder says our ferries should be fine, though
It’s been a busy week in the world of possible corruption in Ontario.
Labour Minister David Piccini again faced questions about Skills Development Fund allocation after the Trillium reported that a Toronto nightclub had received $10-million in taxpayer funds.
Related: The David Piccini drama continues
Drake was somewhat awkwardly name-checked in a lawsuit against Spotify alleging that bots are responsible for billions of fraudulent streams. (Drake isn’t an accused party, and the lawsuit does not allege that he did anything wrong.)
Let’s not forget the Gay Lea whipped cream heist, in which a reported $80,000 worth of whipped cream was stolen from a Guelph facility.
And finally, one more addition to close us out: the Toronto Star has reported that the company being paid $92 million by the city for the construction of two electric ferries is about to face trial on charges of corruption. The international shipbuilding company Damen, which has its headquarters in the Netherlands, is accused of bribery, forgery and money-laundering as well as violating sanctions on Russia.
A spokesperson for Damen told the Star that the trial would not affect its delivering the ferries on time. They are set to arrive in Toronto between fall 2026 and the following spring.
What next, a World Series baseball getting allegedly lodged in the wall of the Rogers Centre field, potentially costing the Blue Jays the game? No, that would be too far.
Carly Lewis is a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Wired, Interview Magazine, Pitchfork, Elle, and Maclean’s, where she is a contributing editor. Her work has been recognized by the National Magazine Awards and the Digital Publishing Awards. She reports on city life, culture—including what people do online—politics, art and crime. She received the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award for “The Murder of Ashley Wadsworth,” an investigative feature about a Canadian teenager who was killed by a man she met on social media, published by Maclean’s.
