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 More than a dozen of the recipients of a controversial new honour for Ontario lawyers donated to either Attorney General Doug Downey’s election campaign or his riding association, the Star has found as the Ford government continues to face accusations of patronage for how it chose to hand out King’s Counsel titles. Elections Ontario political contribution data shows that the names of 14 of the K.C. recipients match the names of people who donated to either Downey’s two election campaigns or to the Progressive Conservative association in his riding of Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte. The names of 19 other recipients on the 91-person K.C. list also match the names of individuals who have donated to a variety of Progressive Conservative campaigns and riding associations over the last decade. Many of the K.C. recipients do not appear in the Elections Ontario donor database at all. At least seven have donated to other parties, including top litigator Marie Henein, who donated $500 to a Toronto Liberal riding association in 2021. (Of those seven, four are also PC donors.)Downey decided to revive the honorary designation to mark King Charles’s coronation and to recognize lawyers for legal excellence and service to their communities, his office said this week. The designation carries no special privilege aside from allowing lawyers to use the initials K.C. after their names and wear silk robes in court.His office denied there is any connection between donations and getting a K.C.“It’s time they were straight up with Ontarians,” said NDP Leader Marit Stiles in a statement. “Are they selling these honorifics? How did they pick these names? What was their process?”Some of the new K.C.’s announced last Friday have been praised for their work and recognized as worthy recipients. But the government has also faced widespread criticism and outrage for granting the title to numerous Tory politicians, staffers and loyalists, without previously making public any selection criteria or information about the appointment process.Recipients include Downey himself and Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney, who the Star reported this week was called to the Ontario bar just three days before the government announced she was getting a K.C. By virtue of being a former Ontario attorney general, Mulroney, who had only ever held a law licence from New York, did not have to pay any fees or fulfill any of the Law Society of Ontario’s licensing requirements to become an accredited lawyer. The government previously stopped handing out the special designations in 1985 under the then-newly elected Liberal government of David Peterson. He said the title — known as Queen’s Counsel, or Q.C.’s, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II — had become “corrupted” and widely used as a patronage tool.Downey spokesperson Andrew Kennedy said there is no connection between donations and people getting K.C.’s.“No,” he said. “As stated previously, considerations were focused on those who went above and beyond in their commitment to the Crown and public service to provide counsel, expertise and many hours of their own time to help the government navigate through the challenges of COVID-19 and Ontario’s recovery.”The number of donors among the new K.C.’s has nevertheless raised questions among critics, who have called out the government’s secretive selection process. (Downey’s office has said there will be a public application process going forward.)Stiles said there are some worthy lawyers of distinction on the list, but said the government is “using them for cover in what appears to be the latest tool in its cash-for-access culture.“The Queen’s Counsel designation was eliminated because it became a way for governments to reward their insiders,” she said. “Now, we’re seeing it return, with Ford’s Conservatives giving themselves and their donors fancy new titles.”Stiles is also demanding to know when Mulroney first learned she was getting a K.C., and if it preceded her call to the bar last Tuesday, three days before the government made the public announcement in a Friday afternoon press release.“This whole thing raises more questions than provides answers,” she said.The perception of patronage “erodes trust,” said Phil Triadafilopoulos, associate professor of political science at the University of Toronto-Scarborough, speaking generally. “We wonder, why is this happening? Is this to pay back a favour? Or is this to earn a favour in the future?” he said.“If you think that titles or positions are being divvied out because of family or personal connections, or interest-based calculations, then you’re not sure if that person earned the title, earned the job, is going to be the person who represents that honorific as it should be represented.”The 14 individuals include several people associated with the provincial or federal Conservatives. Downey’s chief of staff, Joseph Hillier, donated $1,000 in 2020, $1,441 in 2021, and $449 in 2022 to the riding association. Former chief of staff Michael Wilson donated $441 in 2021 and $500 in 2020 to the riding association. Maureen Harquail, a former federal Conservative Party candidate who now serves as chief executive officer and registrar of the Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry Council, donated $1,882 to the riding association in 2021, as well as $250 to Downey’s campaign in 2018. David Young, who served as a PC attorney general in the early 2000s, donated $750 to the riding association in 2020. Downey’s ex-policy director Amanda Iarusso, who was called to the bar five years ago and now works in private practice, donated $441 to the riding association in 2021. Former PC party president Blair McCreadie donated $441 to the riding association in 2021. Ex-federal Conservative cabinet minister Peter Van Loan donated $162 in 2019 and $450 in 2020 to the association.They did not return the Star’s requests for comment. Legal Aid Ontario board chair and former chief of staff to ex-PC premier Ernie Eves, Steve Pengelly, donated $250 to Downey’s campaign in 2022. He told the Star he has donated to PC and Liberal campaigns. “I expect nothing in return for my very modest financial support to those running for elected office who I know are good, ethical individuals, prepared to shoulder the heavy burden of elected office,” Pengelly said, adding he’s known Downey for at least a decade, working closely together when Pengelly was executive director of the Ontario Bar Association and Downey was the treasurer.The remaining individuals include lawyers in private practice and civil servants: Lawyer Sander Grieve donated $441 to the riding association in 2021. He did not return a request for comment. Lawyer William Thomas Barlow gave $300 to the association in 2020. He also did not return a request for comment. Heather Zordel — the former chair of the Ontario Securities Commission, who resigned last year after just a few months in the role — donated $441 to the riding association in 2021. She declined to comment. Real estate lawyer and member of the Law Society of Ontario’s board of directors, Sidney Troister, donated $500 to the riding association in 2021. Troister had pushed successive provincial governments for years to improve the Planning Act, something that Downey took on after being elected, and was successful in getting the act amended. Troister declined to comment. Provincial government lawyer Christopher Diana confirmed to the Star that he gave $200 to Downey’s campaign in 2018. Diana is senior counsel with the Ministry of the Solicitor General’s legal services branch, and has argued cases at every level of court and in tribunals. Commercial lawyer Patrick Shea said his $441 donation was a portion of a ticket to a fundraiser event to which he was invited. Shea made a similar donation of $778 to the Eglinton-Lawrence riding association in 2022. He said he was invited “by people that I either worked with or who had supported me in my community-based projects … Those individuals happened to belong to a particular party.” Shea added: “Had I been invited to an event held by another party, I probably would have also attended that event, but I’ve never been actually invited to a Liberal or NDP fundraiser.”Downey is also identified in a 2016 news article as a friend of lawyer and K.C. recipient Fay McFarlane of Orillia, who made no donations.On the occasion of McFarlane becoming a regional small claims deputy judge, Downey — who had not yet entered provincial politics — told The Orillia Packet & Times: “I think that she will bring a perspective to the bench that may not otherwise be there.”McFarlane, who did not return the Star’s request for comment, expressed her joy at becoming a K.C. on Facebook last week.“Big congratulations to me,” she said in one post.“I once again feel I deserve some rewards for how I do anything I can to help so many and look for nothing in return but blessings from above,” she said in another. Jacques Gallant is a Toronto-based reporter covering courts, justice and legal affairs for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @JacquesGallant 

More than a dozen of the recipients of a controversial new honour for Ontario lawyers donated to either Attorney General Doug Downey’s election campaign or his riding association, the Star has found as the Ford government continues to face accusations of patronage for how it chose to hand out King’s Counsel titles.

Elections Ontario political contribution data shows that the names of 14 of the K.C. recipients match the names of people who donated to either Downey’s two election campaigns or to the Progressive Conservative association in his riding of Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte.

The names of 19 other recipients on the 91-person K.C. list also match the names of individuals who have donated to a variety of Progressive Conservative campaigns and riding associations over the last decade.

Many of the K.C. recipients do not appear in the Elections Ontario donor database at all. At least seven have donated to other parties, including top litigator Marie Henein, who donated $500 to a Toronto Liberal riding association in 2021. (Of those seven, four are also PC donors.)

Downey decided to revive the honorary designation to mark King Charles’s coronation and to recognize lawyers for legal excellence and service to their communities, his office said this week. The designation carries no special privilege aside from allowing lawyers to use the initials K.C. after their names and wear silk robes in court.

His office denied there is any connection between donations and getting a K.C.

“It’s time they were straight up with Ontarians,” said NDP Leader Marit Stiles in a statement. “Are they selling these honorifics? How did they pick these names? What was their process?”

Some of the new K.C.’s announced last Friday have been praised for their work and recognized as worthy recipients. But the government has also faced widespread criticism and outrage for granting the title to numerous Tory politicians, staffers and loyalists, without previously making public any selection criteria or information about the appointment process.

Recipients include Downey himself and Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney, who the Star reported this week was called to the Ontario bar just three days before the government announced she was getting a K.C.

By virtue of being a former Ontario attorney general, Mulroney, who had only ever held a law licence from New York, did not have to pay any fees or fulfill any of the Law Society of Ontario’s licensing requirements to become an accredited lawyer.

The government previously stopped handing out the special designations in 1985 under the then-newly elected Liberal government of David Peterson. He said the title — known as Queen’s Counsel, or Q.C.’s, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II — had become “corrupted” and widely used as a patronage tool.

Downey spokesperson Andrew Kennedy said there is no connection between donations and people getting K.C.’s.

“No,” he said. “As stated previously, considerations were focused on those who went above and beyond in their commitment to the Crown and public service to provide counsel, expertise and many hours of their own time to help the government navigate through the challenges of COVID-19 and Ontario’s recovery.”

The number of donors among the new K.C.’s has nevertheless raised questions among critics, who have called out the government’s secretive selection process. (Downey’s office has said there will be a public application process going forward.)

Stiles said there are some worthy lawyers of distinction on the list, but said the government is “using them for cover in what appears to be the latest tool in its cash-for-access culture.

“The Queen’s Counsel designation was eliminated because it became a way for governments to reward their insiders,” she said. “Now, we’re seeing it return, with Ford’s Conservatives giving themselves and their donors fancy new titles.”

Stiles is also demanding to know when Mulroney first learned she was getting a K.C., and if it preceded her call to the bar last Tuesday, three days before the government made the public announcement in a Friday afternoon press release.

“This whole thing raises more questions than provides answers,” she said.

The perception of patronage “erodes trust,” said Phil Triadafilopoulos, associate professor of political science at the University of Toronto-Scarborough, speaking generally. “We wonder, why is this happening? Is this to pay back a favour? Or is this to earn a favour in the future?” he said.

“If you think that titles or positions are being divvied out because of family or personal connections, or interest-based calculations, then you’re not sure if that person earned the title, earned the job, is going to be the person who represents that honorific as it should be represented.”

The 14 individuals include several people associated with the provincial or federal Conservatives.

Downey’s chief of staff, Joseph Hillier, donated $1,000 in 2020, $1,441 in 2021, and $449 in 2022 to the riding association.

Former chief of staff Michael Wilson donated $441 in 2021 and $500 in 2020 to the riding association.

Maureen Harquail, a former federal Conservative Party candidate who now serves as chief executive officer and registrar of the Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry Council, donated $1,882 to the riding association in 2021, as well as $250 to Downey’s campaign in 2018.

David Young, who served as a PC attorney general in the early 2000s, donated $750 to the riding association in 2020.

Downey’s ex-policy director Amanda Iarusso, who was called to the bar five years ago and now works in private practice, donated $441 to the riding association in 2021.

Former PC party president Blair McCreadie donated $441 to the riding association in 2021.

Ex-federal Conservative cabinet minister Peter Van Loan donated $162 in 2019 and $450 in 2020 to the association.

They did not return the Star’s requests for comment.

Legal Aid Ontario board chair and former chief of staff to ex-PC premier Ernie Eves, Steve Pengelly, donated $250 to Downey’s campaign in 2022. He told the Star he has donated to PC and Liberal campaigns. “I expect nothing in return for my very modest financial support to those running for elected office who I know are good, ethical individuals, prepared to shoulder the heavy burden of elected office,” Pengelly said, adding he’s known Downey for at least a decade, working closely together when Pengelly was executive director of the Ontario Bar Association and Downey was the treasurer.

The remaining individuals include lawyers in private practice and civil servants:

Lawyer Sander Grieve donated $441 to the riding association in 2021. He did not return a request for comment.

Lawyer William Thomas Barlow gave $300 to the association in 2020. He also did not return a request for comment.

Heather Zordel — the former chair of the Ontario Securities Commission, who resigned last year after just a few months in the role — donated $441 to the riding association in 2021. She declined to comment.

Real estate lawyer and member of the Law Society of Ontario’s board of directors, Sidney Troister, donated $500 to the riding association in 2021. Troister had pushed successive provincial governments for years to improve the Planning Act, something that Downey took on after being elected, and was successful in getting the act amended. Troister declined to comment.

Provincial government lawyer Christopher Diana confirmed to the Star that he gave $200 to Downey’s campaign in 2018. Diana is senior counsel with the Ministry of the Solicitor General’s legal services branch, and has argued cases at every level of court and in tribunals.

Commercial lawyer Patrick Shea said his $441 donation was a portion of a ticket to a fundraiser event to which he was invited. Shea made a similar donation of $778 to the Eglinton-Lawrence riding association in 2022. He said he was invited “by people that I either worked with or who had supported me in my community-based projects … Those individuals happened to belong to a particular party.” Shea added: “Had I been invited to an event held by another party, I probably would have also attended that event, but I’ve never been actually invited to a Liberal or NDP fundraiser.”

Downey is also identified in a 2016 news article as a friend of lawyer and K.C. recipient Fay McFarlane of Orillia, who made no donations.

On the occasion of McFarlane becoming a regional small claims deputy judge, Downey — who had not yet entered provincial politics — told The Orillia Packet & Times: “I think that she will bring a perspective to the bench that may not otherwise be there.”

McFarlane, who did not return the Star’s request for comment, expressed her joy at becoming a K.C. on Facebook last week.

“Big congratulations to me,” she said in one post.

“I once again feel I deserve some rewards for how I do anything I can to help so many and look for nothing in return but blessings from above,” she said in another.

Jacques Gallant is a Toronto-based reporter covering courts, justice and legal affairs for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @JacquesGallant