How a financial scandal rocked an Ontario agency for vulnerable children
Global News
A former Peel CAS finance director, who was arrested and had charges later withdrawn, is speaking out about an agency rocked by allegations of financial mismanagement.
After years of turmoil — ranging from allegations of a toxic work culture to financial mismanagement and even arrests — at a children’s agency in Peel Region, a figure at the centre of the scandal is speaking out.
“It’s been a long two years, let’s just say, for family, for myself,” Marino Cader, the former head of finance for Peel Children’s Aid Society (CAS), told Global News.
Cader was arrested by police in November 2022, along with another employee, and charged with an alleged scheme to defraud Peel Children’s Aid Society. The publicly funded organization helps children and families at their most vulnerable in Brampton, Caledon and Mississauga.
Charges against Cader were withdrawn on May 3 by Crown prosecutors in a case both the defence and prosecution agreed was marked by police disclosure issues.
In withdrawing the charges, the Crown said there “remains a public interest in proceeding” but that there was no “reasonable chance of conviction” in a case that had dragged on close to the 18-month limit established as reasonable in Canada.
The former finance director said he’s struggled to “drown out that stigma” that comes with articles about his arrest every time a potential employer searches his name and is now pursuing a civil case against Peel CAS. The agency is also seeking damages from him in its own claim.
“My kids have gone through a lot, obviously the stuff that’s come out in the media,” Marino Cader told Global News in an exclusive interview. “I was not able to speak out at the advice of legal counsel at the time. As much as I wanted to say stuff, I couldn’t.”
A Global News investigation based on leaked documents, interviews with current and former Peel CAS employees, court filings and freedom of information requests reveals how an agency tasked with helping vulnerable youth became embroiled in a financial scandal, criminal arrests and questions about an alleged scheme around gift cards.
A new witness's testimony became emotional after she named the accused, Michael Smillie, as a high-ranking gang member.
The sudden closure of a major ski resort because of a labour dispute has thrown Quebec's Charlevoix region into uncertainty threatening winter-season revenues for local businesses.
The old order is gone and shouldn’t be mourned, Prime Minister Mark Carney says as President Donald Trump doubles down on his push to take over Greenland.
Last spring, Lyndsay Richholt of Kelowna, B.C., was given six months to live without a liver transplant.
'He engaged earnestly, with at all levels of the Chinese government,' the Saskatchewan premier told reporters on Tuesday.
Annie Calamia says she was expecting a calm, comfortable recovery at Maissoneuve-Rosemont hospital, but instead felt like she stepped into a danger zone.
The union says nearly half the positions Grace General Hospital are vacant, while 36 per cent are empty at St. Boniface General Hospital.
A new report found that 2025 ranks in the top 10 years of all time for the most insured damages caused by severe weather in Canada.
The pop star sat in the front row as Trudeau spoke about Canada not interfering in other countries' domestic policy to seize oil and assert influence.
Metal detectors are being installed detectors in urban emergency departments across Regina and Saskatoon, the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) says.
RCMP say it's believed the two men, who were stopped at a traffic stop, have firearms. No shots were fired.
Quebec's finance minister says he has shared his concerns with his Ontario counterpart about that province's intention to remove Crown Royal whisky from liquor stores.
At the TDSB's accessibility committee, executive officer of finance Craig Snider suggested the province's supervisor had not made cuts or reductions to the existing financial plan.