Jessica Smith Cross

@jessiecatherine.bsky.social

Editor of The Trillium. "Real mom vibe."

🧵It's been less than a month since the government changed the freedom of information laws, but a slew of updated rejection notes have started to land in the inboxes of journalists, advocates and others. Here's a look at the first few. #ONpoli

A Ford government minister didn’t attend the prestigious U.S. university his official bios claimed. Michael Tibollo never went to the University of Southern California — it was the online-only ‘California Southern University.' www.thetrillium.ca/news/politic...

Ford government minister didn’t attend the prestigious U.S. university claimed in his official bios

Michael Tibollo never went to the University of Southern California — it was the online-only ‘California Southern University'

thetrillium.ca

In this op-ed, former premier Kathleen Wynne writes about having to face "uncomfortable, sometimes humiliating experiences" because of information unearthed by FOI requests. That, she argues, is part of our democracy, and Ford's FOI changes will weaken it. www.thetrillium.ca/opinion/opin...

OPINION: When you're premier, FOI requests are part of the job

If you put your name on a ballot, scrutiny by the public is fair game, writes former premier Kathleen Wynne

thetrillium.ca

NEW: A company that got $2M from the Skills Development Fund is run by a dentist who boasts about having the Ford family among his patients. Ford says he had nothing to do with it getting a grant: “I don't believe in micromanaging.” www.thetrillium.ca/news/the-tri...

Company given $2M from Skills Development Fund run by Ford family dentist: sources

The company’s CEO also worked closely with the wife of the minister in charge of the grant program at the time

thetrillium.ca

A few months ago @thelocal.to got a promising pitch from a writer with bylines in whole bunch of reputable publications—The Cut, The Guardian, Dwell, Architectural Digest, etc. Then I started investigating. Here's a story about fabulists in journalism's AI slop era. thelocal.to/investigatin...

Investigating a Possible Scammer in Journalism’s AI Era | The Local

A suspicious pitch from a freelancer led editor Nicholas Hune-Brown to dig into their past work. By the end, four publications, including The Guardian and Dwell, had removed articles from their sites.

thelocal.to

NEW: ‘Mr. X’ claims Minister David Piccini tipped him off about Greenbelt removals John Mutton made the claim in an interview with the integrity commissioner and then on a podcast. The minister denied it through a spokesperson. www.thetrillium.ca/news/politic...

‘Mr. X’ claims Minister David Piccini tipped him off about Greenbelt removals

John Mutton made the claim in an interview with the integrity commissioner and then on a podcast. The minister denied it through a spokesperson

thetrillium.ca

NEW: A non-profit with ties to Drake got $3.3 million from Ontario’s Skills Development Fund — but has since shut down, and the province claims the group owes it money. It matches an example from the AG report of a low-ranked group picked by the MO. www.thetrillium.ca/news/politic...

Ford government seeking money back from defunct Skills Development Fund recipient with ties to Drake

The not-for-profit got more than $3 million in taxpayer funds before it shut down

thetrillium.ca

NEW: Clients of lobby firms connected to the premier and his nephew were given tens of millions from the Skills Development Fund. Clients of Rubicon — a lobbying firm owned by the premier’s campaign manager — got more than $100M, records show. www.thetrillium.ca/news/politic...

Clients of lobby firms connected to premier, his nephew given tens of millions in training funds

Groups represented by a lobbying firm owned by the premier’s campaign manager got more than $100 million in grant money, a Trillium analysis has found

thetrillium.ca

BREAKING: Ford government skills training funding ‘not fair, transparent or accountable’: auditor general Ford government labour ministers overruled civil servants to fund skills training by groups with lobbyists, according to a scathing new report www.thetrillium.ca/news/politic...

BREAKING: Ford government skills training funding ‘not fair, transparent or accountable’: auditor general

Ford government labour ministers overruled civil servants to fund skills training by groups with lobbyists, according to a scathing new report

thetrillium.ca

New Skills Development Fund story from @charliepinkerton.bsky.social A company that specializes in helping dentists sell their practices was given $2 million to train workers when its CEO worked closely with the wife of the then-cabinet minister responsible for the funding program.

TheTrillium.ca@thetrillium.bsky.social · 12mo ago

Millions from Ontario training funding went to dentists’ brokerage with ties to then-labour minister’s wife

Update to this story on a group that trains people to work in clubs run by Zlatko Starkovski, a longtime Ford Nation figure: Ontario's public accounts show the group got an additional $3.3M in grants from the Skills Development Fund last year, for a total of more than $9.8M.

TheTrillium.ca@thetrillium.bsky.social · 12mo ago

Group training workers for ‘Rob Ford’s favourite nightclub owner’ got $6.5M in provincial skills development funding