TORONTO - Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne is refuting Tory accusations that she made a secret 317-million-dollar deal to bail out a downtown Toronto real estate development.
The Progressive Conservatives today released cabinet documents they say show the governing Liberals secretly approved the bailout without the public's knowledge right before the election.
But Wynne said the documents refer to negotiations that are underway -- but not completed -- to purchase the building at the MaRS innovation research centre.
If finalized, she says the agreement would ensure that MaRS could fulfill its mandate to create jobs and support research and innovation.
The Liberals gave 71 million dollars to build a second tower at the MaRS centre, and provided a 234-million-dollar loan for the project.
But former Tory M-P-P Frank Klees says the documents show the registered charity and the real estate developer behind it couldn't repay the money.
At a campaign stop in Toronto today, Wynne called the allegations untrue and said the P-Cs are just trying to divert attention away from allegations they used faulty math in their Million Jobs plan.
Wynne called the MaRs deal a "responsible decision" saying it would also allow consolidation of government offices into a government-owned building, so it would not be paying leases on that space.
