Read on Twitter
fascinated by this man, mario cortellucci, and his outsized influence on ontario and GTA politics. cortellucci, who lives in vaughan and ran as a far-right candidate for the italian senate back in 2018 - is a major ford donor...
his name might sound familiar because the new cortellucci vaughan hospital at mackenzie health, the one doug ford has been touting lately as a covid-centric facility, is named after him and his family https://pressprogress.ca/ontario-hospital-renamed-in-honour-of-one-of-doug-fords-top-donors/
but his name also pops up in a LOT of other ford projects. for instance - he controls the long term lease on big parts of toronto's portlands... where doug ford once proposed building an nfl stadium and monorail... https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/fords-sale-of-citys-waterfront-real-estate-begins/article578177/
cortellucci, who is a developer, also owns a large chunk of the greenbelt. doug ford's desire to develop the greenbelt has been well-documented https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/doug-ford-pc-greenbelt-open-developers-mike-schreiner-1.4641575
and late last year he rolled back the mandate of conservation authorities there, prompting the resignations of several members of the greenbelt advisory group https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2020/12/07/doug-ford-government-defends-conservation-authority-changes-in-wake-of-mass-greenbelt-council-resignations.html
there he is again! https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-doug-ford-government-mzos-developers-zoning-orders-1.5832817
back to mario cortellucci's italian senate run -- he ran under berlusconi's coalition that promoted anti-immigration and anti-lgbtq policies, as well as the closure of mosques. https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/richard-lorello/vaughan-bevilacqua-cortellucci-italian-election_a_23378366/
vaughan mayor maurizio bevilacqua faced an integrity complaint after endorsing cortellucci's run. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/vaughan-integrity-complaint-1.4548635
while there's nothing illegal about cortellucci's senate run, or his donations - i think this stuff is important to know. ford and his donors rely on no one paying attention to these things so they can keep doing what they're doing.
but citizens should be aware of who is behind the decisions that affect them, to whom our politicians are beholden , and how having deep pockets means you can sway democracy in your favour - while hiding behind 'philanthropy'
this is especially relevant now, as doug ford ignores pleas for paid sick days, which he cut at the beginning of his term. @goldsbie looked into that... https://twitter.com/goldsbie/status/1349099329433251840
and, while he protects the private long-term care home industry from the consequences of their actions during covid-19... for some reason.
i believe it is irresponsible to report on the actions of our leaders without giving context. stories don't happen in a vacuum. @fordnation isn't just sitting in a room making "the best decision" -- he has friends and family -- and favours to return.
and so far we know this is a guy who surrounds himself by far-righters, alt-righters and anti-vaxxers. food for thought. i'm very tired now.
and before you say "but politicians accept donations all the time" - don't forget that the fords have tried to keep this a SECRET since back in the robbie days!
and if you'd like to start on @Sflecce's ties to vaughan developers... here you go https://pressprogress.ca/group-that-ran-anti-teacher-attack-ads-featuring-fake-mom-violated-ontario-elections-act/
anyway now you know who @fordnation is actually referring to when he says "my friends"
