Gordon Prentice at Large - Politics in Newmarket
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- Written by: Gordon Prentice
PACE Credit Union has been good to former MPP, Frank Klees, who represented Newmarket-Aurora in the Provincial Parliament for 19 years from 1995 – 2014. 
On 19 March 2014, just six weeks before stepping down as an MPP, he welcomed important visitors to Queen’s Park, giving in his own words “special recognition” to
“Mr. Larry Smith, who is the CEO of Pace Credit Union, as well as the CFO of that great organization, Mr. Phillip Smith.”
A detailed investigation of the two Smiths in the Globe and Mail on 23 November 2019 paints a less benign picture of the father and son duo who allegedly committed civil fraud with years of secret payments. The father, Larry, had been running the show as Chief Executive for 28 years and his son, Phillip, succeeded him in 2015. Clearly, PACE, based in Vaughan, was a family affair.
The Deposit Insurance Corporation of Ontario started investigating last year and fired the Smiths.
Financial journalist James Bradshaw writes:
“Larry Smith…arranged loans and business deals, as was his job. But Mr. Smith and a number of his family members and associates – including one former provincial cabinet minister – also pocketed millions in “consulting fees” and other benefits in connection with those deals, according to an extraordinary set of allegations levied by a financial regulator.”
Millions in commissions
The cabinet minister in question is, of course, Frank Klees who, as a hired hand, took millions in commissions before joining the PACE Board in May 2018.
The Globe and Mail tells us Klees was a long-time friend of the Smith family.
“In 2013, before Mr. Klees left politics, he signed a consulting contract with PACE, approved by Larry Smith. It paid Mr. Klees a $5,000 monthly retainer in its first year and promised him a percentage commission on loans or joint ventures that he helped arrange for the credit union.”
But after Klees retired from politics his income (presumably) ballooned:
“Between 2015 and 2018, Mr. Klees collected nearly $2.8-million in payments for consulting work on two joint ventures between PACE and Geranium, according to court filings. Some of the payments were made by PACE, as shown in invoices he submitted, for amounts ranging from $169,500 to $678,000. Mr. Klees also invoiced JLG Consulting, Mr. Giampietri’s company, for $339,000 for consulting services.”
When Klees joined the PACE board of directors he was getting around $12,500 a month for his work. But the regulator raised a red flag, pointing to a possible conflict of interest with his primary duty as a Board member - looking after the interests of the depositors.
Sourcing and facilitating
What is not in doubt is that Klees was raking in the cash, big style.
“As a consultant, my role was to source and facilitate real estate development projects between Pace, land owners and developers/builders… For those services, the parties with whom I had agreements were invoiced by my company for fees commensurate with the services delivered.”
I am left wondering how many real estate development projects Klees facilitated here in Newmarket, if any. I’d love to know.
But I suppose it is none of my business.
I am just endlessly fascinated by the millions of dollars people make by "facilitating" things.
PACE was, of course, heavily involved with the Slessors and with Bob Forrest when he took out a mortgage on his Clock Tower property but I’ve no idea if Klees was involved in any way.
Update on 26 November 2019: Today's Globe and Mail takes the story further. Regulator adds former PACE credit union directors to lawsuit alleging negligence in "secret" payments
Update on 1 December 2019: Frank Klees and Places to Grow. My exchange with Frank in 2012.
Update on 27 May 2020: From the Globe and Mail. Ontario issues special orders to approve developers' plans and quash opposition.
"The developers, represented by lobbyist and former PC cabinet minister Frank Klees, have offered to create larger, enhanced wetlands nearby, with the blessing of the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority. But they say the province’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, which also supports the plan, does not have the power to lift the existing protections quickly."
Update on 23 November 2020: From the Globe and Mail: Regulator takes over PACE after board resignations.
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- Written by: Gordon Prentice
Yesterday I emailed my new MP – Newmarket-Aurora’s Tony Van Bynen – to congratulate him again on his stunning victory in last month’s Federal Election. 
I wanted to try out his new official email address:
but I could have written to him postage-free at the House of Commons or visited his constituency office in Bayview Avenue which, like the hermit crab, he took over from the previous occupant, Kyle Peterson, who had moved out.
In my email I tell Tony his election victory was a huge achievement for someone who had only been a member of the Liberal Party for a few months.
At 69, Tony is the second oldest rookie in this intake of 91 first-time MPs. Perhaps the oldest, I’m not sure.
MPs and how they spend their days
The Parliament of Canada website allows constituents to follow their MPs and see what they get up to. We will be able to track Tony’s speeches and interventions in the Chamber of the House of Commons and in Committee – once we know which ones he is on. It is still a bit up-in-the-air but things will soon settle down. Other websites also track MPs so there is no excuse for being in the dark.
The Parliament of Canada website is still being updated with details and photos of the new Members and I expect Tony’s Twitter account will soon be up there so I can follow him at last.
When Tony was Mayor of Newmarket he blocked me (and many others) from seeing his Tweets and this bizarre behaviour continued even after he collected his retirement pay-outs and was again running for public office. Now that he is our MP - and on the public payroll - we are all paying his salary again.
Anyway... the election is behind us and I am excited for Tony in this challenging new phase of his career.
For myself, I shall be keen to learn more about his politics.
After all those years as Newmarket’s Mayor, I still don’t really know him.
Thursday 5 December 2019 is the first sitting day of the new Parliament.
Update at 16.00 on 24 November 2019: One of my readers sends me this pinned Tweet. This is the kinda thing some of us are blocked from seeing.
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- Written by: Gordon Prentice
Doug Ford’s decision – during last year’s Provincial election campaign - to cut the size of Toronto City Council by half could end up in the Supreme Court. 
Earlier today, the City announced it would appeal against a 3-2 decision of Ontario’s Court of Appeal which held the cut in Council size was lawful.
The Appeal Court’s decision on 19 September 2019 didn’t get the coverage it deserved as everyone was distracted by the Federal election. We shall see how it all pans out.
Last month Ford dropped his contentious plans to reform regional government and we can all breath a huge sigh of relief.
Regional reform would have been a monumental distraction.
Electing the Regional Chair: Back on the Agenda
But for York Region it also resurrects the issue of whether the Regional Chair (currently Wayne Emmerson) should be elected by the voters at large or by the 21 members of the Regional Council. There is now nothing to stop the Regional Council asking the Province for permission to have the Regional Chair directly elected as from the next election.
The former Liberal MPP for Newmarket-Aurora, Chris Ballard, championed direct election for years while the newly elected MP for Newmarket-Aurora, Tony Van Bynen, has always set his face against it. Personally, I can’t see Van Bynen offering an opinion now that he has other things to think about in Ottawa but who knows?
Toronto's press release says this: The City of Toronto today filed an application with the Supreme Court of Canada to seek Leave to Appeal a decision by the Ontario Court of Appeal regarding Bill 5, the Better Local Government Act, 2018. In September, the Ontario Court of Appeal's majority opinion ruled 3-2 that the legislation that reduced the City's wards from 47 to 25 in the middle of the 2018 election was constitutional. In January 2019, Toronto City Council directed staff "to pursue a Leave to Appeal application to the Supreme Court of Canada in the event the Province is successful on its appeal at the Court of Appeal." The City has now done so and will await the Court's decision on whether to hear the appeal. Should the Court grant the application, legal arguments will be led by City of Toronto in-house counsel. The application is available online.