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Wikipedia notes some history.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King's_Counsel

Ontario​

The Government of Ontario stopped making appointments in 1985. The then-Premier of Ontario, David Peterson made a statement in the house giving five reasons:

  1. the designation was originally meant to recognise excellence in the courtroom, but the practice in Ontario was that it could be given to any lawyer, regardless of courtroom experience;
  2. the use of the designation misled the public, because it was more based on who one knows than what one knows;
  3. it was unfair to lawyers who for whatever reason have not been designated, leading to questions about their standing in the profession;
  4. no other profession received government awards of this type;
  5. the designation had been used in Ontario mainly as a form of political patronage.[81]
In his statement, Premier Peterson stated that the government would stop awarding the designation and would move to revoke existing designations. However, although the Government of Ontario has stopped awarding the designation, it did not formally abolish it. Lawyers appointed as Queen's Counsel prior to 1985 continue to use the Q.C. or c.r. postnominal letters.[82] In response to the government's decision, the Law Society of Upper Canada, the governing body for Ontario lawyers, implemented the Law Society Medal in 1985 to recognise excellence in the profession. Recipients are entitled to use "L.S.M." behind their names.[83]

Lawyers who are designated Certified Specialist are recognized and experienced in their field of law and have met high standards imposed by the Law Society of Ontario.[84] This is commonly identified as modern day replacement to the Queen's Counsel (QC) designation.[85]

Ontario courts, however, continued to recognize the Queen's Counsel designations of Ontario lawyers appearing before it where those lawyers were accorded the honorific by the Federal Government.[86]

On June 30, 2023, the Attorney General for Ontario announced that the province would start awarding the designation again, in honour of King Charles's coronation.[87] There had been calls from some members of the Ontario bar for the province to reinstate the King's Counsel designation, on a merit basis, to help Ontario lawyers remain competitive internationally.[88]
 
Ah, Caroline. As rotten as your old man. And such an edifying spectacle, watching you cuddle up to the likes of Dofo. I remember how naive some of us were, thinking the more mainstream brand of conservative might have a problem associating with an unapologetic brute harboring the personality and ethics of a small-time criminal hoodlum. We really should have known better. Speaking of which...

I recently hooked up with a friend I hadn't seen in a while and he passed along an amusing piece of gossip concerning a certain bull-necked thug. My chum had himself just met up with an old friend from his high school days that he hadn't seen in years, and this worthy told him a tale of a hash-buying expedition involving a future politico/head of the provincial Ontario government.(GUESS WHO!?!) The fellow accompanied another person who was buying. It took place at somebody's house, though it definitely wasn't Chez Ford. (Evidently, Dofo had enough innate cunning to understand that operating his little drug dealing business from his own home wouldn't be a good idea.) There were several hulking teen-agers lurking in the background, acting as Ford's 'muscle' here. The prospective customer asked for a sample of the wares - which is standard in these situations - and Ford reached into the bag he was actually selling the guy to offer a token up. Never having indulged in recreational drugs myself, I wouldn't have known the etiquette involved, but it's apparently considered a big no-no to fish around in the actual product you're selling for the sake of offering samples. They're supposed to come from the dealer's own stash. The chappie buying was genuinely pissed off at Ford afterwards for this little faux pa. Nice to know that even as a drug dealer, Ford was tacky, cheap and mean. Consistency, don't ya know!!
 
Just as an addendum to the above post, I'd like to include the following: After hearing (and gloating over) my buddy's second hand tale from Ford's days as a hash dealer, I figured it was only fair to share some gossip of my own, so I told him of a certain rumor I'd seen discussed at this forum, i.e. the speculation in the Toronto By-election thread about Dofo trying to blackmail John Tory. His eyes lit up like Christmas tree lights at this revelation, as no, he hadn't heard so much as a peep about this potential instance of Ford thuggery. I hastened to explain that it was only speculation and there was no proof any such thing had actually happened. Even so, we donned our deerstalkers and examined the "evidence" (such as it was), and he said to me, "If this really did happen, it would explain a few things."

Now, I confess that I'm biased here; I'm obviously willing to believe the worst of Doug Ford, so of course I easily accept he'd pull a stunt like this...but I think we all have to admit that, yes, this is perfectly in character for the man. Doesn't mean it happened, but I can't help wondering if there really is anything to this speculation. I also can't help wondering if Tory might spill the beans at some point. He certainly has no reason to keep quiet about it. Except for the fact of Ford's legendary vindictiveness towards his perceived enemies, of course. And going public with such a nasty bit of business would surely put him on Ford's shit list. I'd be a tad wary about that, myself.
 
So much transparency...

A prominent Toronto-area developer is asking a court to block or delay a provincial watchdog from interviewing him as part of its investigation into the Ontario government's decision to open formerly protected land for housing development, CBC News has learned.

Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk has been looking into the government's removal of more than 2,995 hectares of land from 15 different areas of southern Ontario's Greenbelt so that 50,000 homes can be built. Other land will be added elsewhere. The Greenbelt was created in 2005 to permanently protect agricultural and environmentally sensitive lands from development and covers some 810,000 hectares area of farmland, forest and wetland from Niagara Falls to Peterborough.

As part of that process, Lysyk issued a summons in late June to Silvio De Gasperis, president of the Vaughan, Ont.-based Tacc Group of companies, demanding he provide information related to properties his companies own that were removed from the Greenbelt, according to an application filed on behalf of De Gasperis with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on June 29.

The summons demanded De Gasperis submit to an "examination under oath" and bring any relevant "records, correspondence, notes and documents," according to the court filing.

In his application, De Gasperis asks the court to quash the summons or, alternatively, suspend it while the auditor general provides more information about what she wants him to discuss. The filing claims De Gasperis doesn't have the information the auditor general's office is seeking, that the auditor general doesn't have the jurisdiction to conduct such an audit, and that requesting him to appear is an abuse of process, among other things.

Neil Wilson, a partner with Stevenson Whelton LLP who is representing De Gasperis, declined to comment. Emails and a phone call to Tacc Developments — Tacc Group's main company — requesting an interview with De Gasperis went unanswered.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/silvio-de-gasperis-auditor-general-greenbelt-1.6902145
 
tiffer24 said:
The filing claims De Gasperis doesn't have the information the auditor general's office is seeking, that the auditor general doesn't have the jurisdiction to conduct such an audit, and that requesting him to appear is an abuse of process, among other things.
Click to expand...
Yeah, following up an "I did nothing wrong"-style statement with an attack on jurisdiction totally comes off as someone who really believes they have nothing to hide.
 
PinkLucy said:
Well look who went and got called to the bar recently
https://twitter.com/x/status/1676377512425693194
Click to expand...
I've been thinking about this wondering why Ford did this specifically for Mulroney. "KC" doesn't mean much when you're Minister of Transport. I doubt she'd be headed back to the Attorney General's position after not lasting a year previously in the position.

To resurrect a you-scratch-my-back patronage just for her? He's always been far more chummy with the Harris family than the Mulroneys.

What's in it for Doug?
 
As one might imagine, Dog is bow busy trying to distance himself from this brewing scandal!

www.thestar.com

‘I didn’t see a list’: Doug Ford distances himself from King’s Counsel controversy

“I didn’t approve any list, I didn’t see a list,” Ford said in response to a reporter’s question at a press conference in Winnipeg.
www.thestar.com www.thestar.com

‘I didn’t see a list’: Doug Ford distances himself from King’s Counsel controversy​

“I didn’t approve any list, I didn’t see a list,” Ford said in response to a reporter’s question at a press conference in Winnipeg.​

 
DSC said:
As one might imagine, Dog is bow busy trying to distance himself from this brewing scandal!

www.thestar.com

‘I didn’t see a list’: Doug Ford distances himself from King’s Counsel controversy

“I didn’t approve any list, I didn’t see a list,” Ford said in response to a reporter’s question at a press conference in Winnipeg.
www.thestar.com www.thestar.com

‘I didn’t see a list’: Doug Ford distances himself from King’s Counsel controversy​

“I didn’t approve any list, I didn’t see a list,” Ford said in response to a reporter’s question at a press conference in Winnipeg.​

Click to expand...
Patiently waiting as to whom he’s going to throw under bus. But in reality he must have place his signature somewhere, or is it a case where the right hand doesn’t know what the left is doing. He’s such a dumb person and a p*ss poor liar.
 
More transparency.

A second prominent Toronto-area developer who owns land that was removed from southern Ontario's protected Greenbelt last year is going to court to avoid answering questions from the province's auditor general.

Michael Rice, CEO of Rice Group, filed a notice of application with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on July 5 seeking to block or delay a summons from Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk that he be interviewed and provide records related to land he owns in the area that is now cleared for development.

Lysyk has been looking at the provincial government's removal of environmental protections from more than 2,995 hectares of land — while adding other land elsewhere — so that 50,000 homes can be built.

The Greenbelt was created in 2005 to permanently protect agricultural and environmentally sensitive lands from development and covers some 810,000 hectares area of farmland, forest and wetland from Niagara Falls to Peterborough.

In the court filing that was first reported by The Toronto Star, Rice argues the summons oversteps the auditor general's authority to scrutinize provincial government finances. "The auditor general's role is not to investigate, audit, and/or examine private citizens under oath, or go on fishing expeditions with respect to their private corporate affairs," the filing says.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/michael-rice-auditor-general-greenbelt-1.6904603
 
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