Category: picton terminals

On this page

• Introduction
• Profiting from Ontario’s Skills Development Fund
• Lobbying the Ontario Government
• Lobbying the Canadian Government
• Credits

Introduction

Doornekamp Construction Ltd. owns and operates the Picton Terminals in the County of Prince Edward. For years, Doornekamp has been pursuing its commercial ambitions with scant regard for municipal by-laws or provincial statutes and regulations. For as long, citizens have been protesting Doornekamp’s ways of doing business. Whether on the offence or defence, Doornekamp has skillfully employed lobbyists to promote its self-interests to the Ontario and Canadian governments.
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Profiting from Ontario’s Skills Development Fund

Napanee Today (July 11, 2024) reported that “[Ontario] Government invests $1.18 million to help H.R. Doornekamp train workers in landside marine cargo operations.” Doornekamp’s Sandy Berg explained, “The Picton Terminals Bulk Cargo Safe Handling Training Program is a skills training program for marine landside operations of cargo handling: offloading/loading of steel and bulk cargos to and from vessels. Our specialized training program is critical to improving the safety and efficiency of landside operations. The SDF program supports the Doornekamp Team to develop and sustain a talented, flexible workforce with transferable skills in shipyard operations. Our crew has already benefitted from expert Rigging training used to offload steel beams from vessel Barnacle … Ontario’s SDF program is a tremendous asset to our port operations as we work to support Great Lakes marine shipping and Ontario’s economy.” Hastings Lennox and Addington MPP Ric Bresee agreed, “I am so glad to see this much-needed training opportunity being provided to Doornekamp Construction, to grow our province’s shipping sector, especially here in eastern Ontario.”

Quinte News (July 10, 2024) quoted David Piccini, Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development: “Under the leadership of Premier Ford, our government is proud to invest in programs that support training and upskilling. This project will give people the necessary skills needed to land in-demand and well-paying jobs in their communities and help power our province.”

Minister Piccini has earned widespread criticism for his handling of the Skills Development Fund. The Auditor-General of Ontario’s special report “Skills Development Fund – Training Stream” (October 1, 2025) highlighted various irregularities, including:

• The Minister’s Office chose to fund poor-, low- and medium-ranked applications 54% of the time instead of high-ranked applications
• Sixty-four low- and medium-ranked applications that were selected by the Minister’s office had hired lobbyists to lobby the Ministry and/or Minister on behalf of the applicants before they were selected and funded
• Reasons provided by the Minister’s Office conflicted with Ministry staff”s evaluation of the selected applications.

Today, NDP Leader Marit Stiles filed a formal complaint with the Office of the Integrity Commissioner of Ontario: “We believe there are credible allegations of preferential treatment regarding the approval, oversight, and distribution of SDF grants. The disproportionate number of low scoring applicants with close political ties to the government has undermined public confidence.”

The Toronto Star has lead with this fast-breaking story, including:

• Ontario NDP asks integrity commissioner to investigate labour minister (November 25, 2025)
• Here’s how unions that backed Doug Ford scored on funding applications (November 24, 2025)
• Here’s why Doug Ford is in no hurry to fire his hapless labour minister (November 22, 2025)
• Doug Ford’s latest scandal is almost too brazen to be believed (November 20, 2025)
• NDP leader kicked out of legislature for calling Ford government ‘corrupt’ (November 19, 2025)
• Low-scoring applicants averaged the highest payouts from Doug Ford’s Skills Development Fund (November 18, 2025)
• This $4.79M skills funding application set off warning bells. Ontario’s labour minister approved it anyway (November 17, 2025)
• Ford defends system of skills-development funding, won’t axe minister under fire (November 17, 2025)
• Secret data reveals which low-scoring applicants still received millions of dollars from the Ford government’s skills fund (November 14, 2025)
• Ford government is tainted by what smells like a slush fund (November 6, 2025)
• Doug Ford’s labour minister ignores questions about jobs data on Skills Development Fund (November 3, 2025)
• Doug Ford’s Skills Development Fund ‘needs a forensic audit,’ MPPs say (October 31, 2025)

There has been no reporting about Ministry staff’s evaluation of Doornekamp’s application, or the Minister’s involvement, or the role of Doornekamp’s lobbyists. We have filed a FOIA request for this information with the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development:

“In 2024, the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development (Ministry) awarded $1,148,816.00 to Doornekamp Construction Ltd. (Doornekamp) to deliver the ‘Picton Terminals Bulk Cargo Safe Handling Training Program’ under the terms of the Ministry’s Skills Development Fund (SDF). I am requesting all records pertaining to Doornekamp’s application for funding for this *or any other* training program under the SDF (both Training and Capital Streams), including (a) any of Doornekamp’s application(s), (b) Ministry staff’s evaluations of Doornekamp’s application(s), (c) interventions from any Ministry ADMs, DM or Minister, (d) contracts between the Ministry and Doornekamp to design, deliver, monitor, and evaluate the ‘Picton Terminals Bulk Cargo Safe Handling Training Program’, (e) related communications from Doornekamp’s agents at Rubicon Strategy Inc. to the Ministry.”

Besides questions raised by Doornekamp’s profiting from Ontario’s Skills Development Fund, the Picton Gazette (Terminal Lobby, November 12, 2025) has raised concerns about how Doornekamp’s lobbyists are pushing the Ontario and Canadian governments to expand Picton Terminals.

Questions and concerns about Doornekamp’s government lobbyists warrant a closer look. We begin by laying a factual basis for this greater scrutiny.
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Lobbying the Ontario Government

On November 24, 2025, our search of the Registry of Lobbyists maintained by the Office of the Integrity Commissioner of Ontario (OICO) identified 5 lobbyists – all associated with Rubicon Strategy Inc. – who had worked for Doornekamp Construction Ltd. (Table 1). Tim Smitheman (Senior VP) became the first Ontario government lobbyist for Doornekamp in January 2013.¹I happened to know Smitheman when he worked as Senior Advisor in the Office of Ontario’s Minister of Health and Long-Term Care fifteen years or so ago. Smitheman no longer workis on the file; instead,  Jan O’Driscoll (Partner),  Aaron Gairdner (Senior VP), and Mustapha Khamissa (Account Director) are Doornekamp’s Ontario government lobbyists. As noted below, Tim Smitheman and Aaron Gairdner also lobbied the Canadian government for Doornekamp.

In all their filings with the OICO, Rubicon’s lobbyists describe their client’s business in glowing terms: “Doornekamp Construction Ltd. helps our customers build an efficient and sustainable future. Doornekamp works with clients and utilizes creative engineering, economic strategies and sustainable products to accomplish challenging projects. Our team provides specialized properties commercially and residentially in premier locations, built and maintained to an unparalleled quality.”

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Lobbying the Canadian Government

On November 24, 2025, our advanced search of the Registry of Lobbyists maintained by the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada (OCLC) identified 7 lobbyists – all associated with Rubicon Strategy Inc. – who had worked for Doornekamp Construction Ltd. Braedan de Bakker (now Account Director at Rubicon) became the first Consultant to register as a Canadian government lobbyist for Doornekamp in January 2013 – around the same time that his colleague, Tim Smitheman, registered to lobby the Ontario government. According to Registrations and Monthly Communication Reports on the OCLC website, de Bakker and Andy Singh (General Counsel, Senior VP – Public Affairs) have been most active and remain engaged in lobbying the federal government on Doornekamp’s behalf (Table 1).²Before joining Rubicon, de Bakker had worked as advisor in the House of Commons of Canada and legislative assistant to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Singh was a senior member of Justin Trudeau’s Liberal leadership team and was national legal counsel for the Liberal Party during the 2015, 2019, and 2021 elections. He also served as general counsel for the Liberal Research Bureau, legal counsel to the chief government whip, and deputy director of parliamentary affairs. Tim Smitheman (Senior VP – National Energy Practice Lead) is also registered as an active lobbyist for Doornekamp, but has submitted no Monthly Communication Reports to the OCLC. As noted above, Tim Smitheman and Aaron Gairdner also lobbied the Ontario government for Doornekamp.

The OCLC website includes current and previous versions of registrations filed by Rubicon Strategy’s lobbyists who were engaged by Doornekamp Construction. Our advance search also revealed the topics and federal institutions of greatest interest to Rubicon (Table 3).

Finally, our advance search also revealed the dates of engagement, topics discussed, and federal officials (elected and unelected) targeted by Rubicon (Table 4).

Throughout Rubicon’s filings with the OCLC, Sandy Berg is identified as Doornekamp’s Project Manager; otherwise, there is little information provided about Doornekamp’s business or its operation of Picton Terminals.
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Credits

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. If you should use this work, please credit Paul Allen, paul@hartallen.com.

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