Secret government data obtained by the Star reveals Premier Doug Ford’s controversial Skills Development Fund doled out $36.6 million to 26 recipients whose applications received scores of 50 per cent or worse.

One of the biggest recipients, the Carpenters District Council of Ontario, submitted a proposal that bureaucrats scored at 52 per cent but still received $14 million for a 12-month project to merge its unions’ skills fund training programs into a single entity.

According to the internal documents that Labour Minister David Piccini has repeatedly refused to make public, the database entry beside the Carpenters’ ”$14,000,000” said the money awaited “Minister for signature.”

All payments over $5 million were personally signed off by Piccini, who faces accusations from opposition par

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