Fontana named federal Teddy winner for defrauding taxpayers over son’s wedding

London, Ontario Mayor Joseph Frank “Joe” Fontana (Wikipedia photo)

OTTAWA — Former federal cabinet minister and London, Ontario mayor Joe Fontana has been named recipient of an award he may not want to accept.

Fontana is the winner of the 2015 federal Teddy Waste Award, a dubious honour bestowed on individuals and governments each year by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

The former Liberal MP was convicted last June of breach of trust, fraud and uttering forged documents after a contract was altered for his son’s 2005 wedding and Fontana submitted the $1,700 invoice to the House of Commons for reimbursement, claiming it was for a function with the federal finance minister.

Ontario’s Ministry of Energy gets the provincial Teddy for spending $1 billion to install 4.8 million so-called smart meters in homes in a program that has been beset with troubles.

Halifax Councillor Brad Johns won the municipal award for buying a $25,000 robotic Christmas tree.

And the federation gave its Lifetime Achievement Award to Vancouver’s TransLink, for more than a decade of waste and tax hikes.