Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government is standing by its man.

In the wake of revelations in the Star that mysterious newspaper ads attacking teachers’ unions are linked to Tory patronage appointee Quinto Annibale, Ford’s office rallied to his defence.

Annibale “will continue to serve in his current role” as vice-chair of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, the premier’s office said Friday.

The Woodbridge lawyer was appointed last April to the part-time posting, which pays $250 a day. The board meets seven times a year, suggesting he would earn $1,750 annually from the Crown liquor monopoly.

“Our government has not spoken to Mr. Annibale in regards to these advertisements,” said Kayla Iafelice, the premier’s director of media relations.

“As we have already said, no one from the government was involved or aware of the creation of these advertisements,” added Iafelice. “All individuals appointed to any agency, board or commission are expected to adhere to the regulations laid out in the public service act regarding political activities.”

Invoices were sent to Loopstra Nixon LLP, the law firm where Annibale is a partner, for the colour advertisements from a group calling itself “Vaughan Working Families” that appeared in the Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail, the National Post and the Toronto Sun last weekend.

According to corporate records, Annibale is a director of Vaughan Working Families, which was registered in 2018 by an advocacy group called Vaughan Health Campus of Care that lobbies for hospital improvements in Vaughan.

On Friday, Loopstra Nixon senior managing partner Allan Ritchie distanced the law firm from the ads.

“The views expressed by Vaughan Working Families and Vaughan Health Campus of Care are not the views of Loopstra Nixon LLP, its lawyers or its staff. Our firm is comprised of people who hold a wide variety of political opinions, all of which are welcome,” Ritchie wrote in a statement, adding that Annibale is on the board of Vaughan Working Families “in his personal capacity.”

“No other partner, lawyer or employee of Loopstra Nixon LLP had any knowledge of these advertisements prior to their publication, or made any contribution to the cost of these publications. We regularly act as the legal registered office for organizations who do not have a physical place of business and it is not uncommon for our firm to receive correspondence on behalf these groups. This is a standard practice in the legal industry.”

New Democrat MPP Peter Tabuns is now calling on Elections Ontario to investigate what he says are the “disturbingly close” ties between the Ford government “and the Vaughan-area Conservatives who financed” the ads, estimated to have cost more than $200,000.

It is unclear if it was a client of the law firm who actually paid for the ads, which contained phrases like “teachers’ unions are risking student success,” and “children are not pawns.”

They were placed on the eve of widespread teacher strikes this week by three of the four Ontario teacher unions, and as more job action is on the horizon.

Ford’s office has strongly denied any connection to the ads. A senior Conservative official told the Star the ads could have been placed by an overzealous supporter, adding “we do not think this is helpful in any way.”

New Democrat MPP Taras Natyshak (Essex) was already calling on Elections Ontario to investigate if the advertisements violate provincial campaign finance laws, given they appeared during the byelection period in Ottawa-Vanier and Orleans.

Tabuns said any coordination between the government and a third-party on such ads is prohibited.

“The story that they knew absolutely nothing about a six-figure campaign run by a party insider is simply not believable,” Tabuns told reporters at Queen’s Park on Friday.

“The stories we’ve heard don’t pass the smell test.”

Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said “the links that have been uncovered to the PC party add more fuel to the fire.

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“Now that we know the director of Vaughan Working Families is a PC appointee who was photographed with the education minister three months ago, it raises more alarms,” Schreiner said, referring to a number of photos that have surfaced on social media.

A spokesperson for Education Minister Stephen Lecce said “as we've stated previously the minister had no prior knowledge of this ad, and has not spoken to any individual involved in the ad about it before or after it was published.”

Neil Oliver, president of Torstar Daily News Brands, said the advertisement should not have been published in the Star, and “the ad slipped through our (vetting) processes” inadvertently.

“I apologize to our readers for the error as we hold ourselves to a standard that, on this occasion, we did not reach,” he said.

At most newspapers, including the Star, the advertising and editorial departments are separate entities.

The group “Vaughan Working Families” has no online presence and there was no contact information for it in the print ads. Its name is similar to Working Families, a coalition of unions that has been doing political advertising in Ontario since 2003.

Tabuns said that “attacking educators using dark money ads running anonymously is wrong, and it shouldn’t happen in this province, period. People deserve better.”

His letter to Elections Ontario notes that Annibale “is also a significant PC Party supporter. He and ‘Quinto Annibale Professional Corporation’ have donated over $31,000 to the Progressive Conservative Party over the last six years.”

It remains unclear how the controversy will impact already tense relations with the province’s teachers.

Harvey Bischof, president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation, said the ads don’t help the current standoff between educators and the province, which has led to one-day strikes as well as ongoing job action.

“It was already troubling to have an anonymous group pay for attack ads exactly mirroring Minister Lecce's talking points, further exacerbating a difficult climate,” Bischof said. “The indications of close connections between the Ford government and the ad's source demand that complete transparency be brought to this situation.”

Correction - Feb. 10, 2020: This article was edited from a previous version misstated the daily rate that Quinto Annibale would make in the part-time posting of vice-chair of the LCBO as $583 per day and incorrectly suggested he would earn $4,081 annually if the board met seven times a year.

Robert Benzie is the Star's Queen's Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie

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