Ontario Premier Doug Ford rejected accusations that his government is trying to make Keel Digital Solutions a scapegoat, adding that he does not direct the OPP.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
A company under police review for alleged irregularities with Ontario government contracts released an audio recording on Tuesday that it says supports its claim that Premier Doug Ford’s government is trying to make the firm a “scapegoat” to deflect a controversy over its worker training fund.
Keel Digital Solutions released an 18-second audio clip from what it said was a July 22 discussion between CEO Rob Godfrey and a senior auditor conducting a forensic audit.
In the recording, which The Globe and Mail has not independently verified, the Toronto-based software firm says the auditor indicated there were no red flags preventing the government from moving ahead with a new contract for Keel’s virtual-mental-health services for post-secondary students.
“There shouldn’t be anything that should impede basically getting the contract ready and signed,” says a man’s voice in the clip who the company said is the senior auditor.
Despite “positive feedback” from auditors, Keel Digital Solutions said the government referred the forensic audit to the Ontario Provincial Police earlier this month in an attempt to distract from a political firestorm over its Skills Development Fund, which provides funding to companies, unions and other organizations for worker training.
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The government has been embroiled in a controversy over its fund since a report from the province’s Auditor-General last month said the distribution of $1.3-billion in grants was “not fair, transparent or accountable.”
Mr. Ford rejected accusations his government is scapegoating the company. “Not at all,” he told reporters at Queen’s Park on Tuesday, adding that he does not direct the OPP.
Keel Digital Solutions has figured in that controversy because of its ties to Ontario Labour Minister David Piccini. Last month, Mr. Piccini attended the wedding of Keel’s then-lobbyist Michael Rudderham in Paris. In 2023, before Mr. Piccini took over the labour portfolio, he attended a Toronto Maple Leafs’ game with a Keel Digital Solutions board member. The minister has said he paid his own way at both events.
Mr. Piccini’s political staff awarded Keel’s subsidiary, Get A-Head, money from the Skills Development Fund despite the company receiving a low ranking from the civil servants who evaluated applications. The company said it got a score of 59 out of 100, saying the flawed selection process favours companies that create manufacturing jobs.
In Question Period on Tuesday, Mr. Piccini defended the decision to give the company grants – even after an audit had raised questions – saying he developed a “risk assessment process” that allows the deputy minister to “deselect an applicant if they feel the risk of the project is too high.”
NDP Leader Marit Stiles accused Mr. Piccini of attempting to shift blame.
“This minister? He’s just flailing right now. He’s blaming anybody and everybody, and not taking responsibility himself,” she told reporters.
Keel Digital Solutions, which bought Get A-Head in 2022, has been awarded roughly $40-million from the province over the past several years, including from the Ministry of Colleges and Universities, the Ministry of Health and the Labour Ministry.
The company said the forensic audit of its operations relates to Keel Mind, its artificial-intelligence-driven virtual-mental-health counselling platform for students that is funded by the Ministry of Colleges and Universities. Executives say the province is blurring the facts and trying to link the audit with the Skills Development Fund in an effort to dodge accountability.
The company’s release of the audio recording is its latest move in an attempt to fight back against the government.
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On Monday, Keel Digital Solutions demanded that the province provide it with a full copy of the forensic audit. Mr. Ford declined to do so, saying the matter is with the OPP.
The government said last week that it had referred the results of the forensic audit to the provincial police. The province said it ordered the comprehensive audit after a 2023 routine audit “identified irregularities.”
The OPP’s anti-rackets branch is reviewing the matter to determine whether to launch a criminal investigation. Keel Digital Solutions said it will co-operate fully with police.
In a press release on Tuesday, Keel Digital Solutions said officials were repeatedly told by the auditors the forensic audit had not raised any red flags. The company said preliminary findings allowed the Ministry of Colleges and Universities to release its “final holdback payment” in June from its 2024-25 contract with the company.
Keel Digital Solutions said the unidentified senior auditor also made positive statements in a Sept. 17 call. By that point, the forensic audit had been ongoing for 10 months.
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Keel Digital Solutions said there were “no substantive changes” to the audit process or the feedback it received between Sept. 17 and the end of October, when it believes the forensic audit was completed.
“Somehow, we went from a positive audit findings [sic] with a proposed new contract to a referral to the OPP in a criminal investigation,” said Ahad Bandealy, Keel Digital Solutions’ chief digital officer.
Mr. Godfrey and another Keel Digital Solutions executive did not respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.
Mr. Ford said on Monday that Keel Digital Solutions’ government funding had been frozen when red flags emerged.
However, the Premier’s Office issued a press release in June, 2024, announcing a $2.7-million Skills Development Fund grant for Get A-Head to train peer-support workers to provide mental-health care to police officers.
Keel Digital Solutions said the government began withholding payments for student-mental-health services in April and owes it $8.33-million for sessions it has delivered since then.
Meanwhile, Mr. Rudderham, who has been a lobbyist for Keel since 2022, stopped representing the company as of Monday, according to an entry in the lobbyist registry. In a text message Tuesday, Mr. Rudderham said he previously rented office space from Keel Digital Solutions, which “has come to an end as well.”