Ford promises MPPs will pay back ‘every single penny’ for hotel expenses as his office cuts staff
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Ontario Premier Doug Ford addresses media in May. The Premier’s office says it has frozen hiring and cut 10 positions to save costs.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
Ontario Premier Doug Ford says his Toronto-area Progressive Conservative MPPs will repay the full costs for billing tens of thousands of dollars for hotel stays, as his office unveiled a hiring freeze and said it is cutting staff to save more than $1-million.
Mr. Ford’s comments on Thursday go further than what his office has previously said about the hotel costs. The stays were filed under so-called “special circumstances” expenses that allow members of the legislature who live within 50 kilometres of Queen’s Park to charge for hotel stays under exceptional circumstances, such as snowstorms or night sittings.
More than a dozen members of Mr. Ford’s caucus – including a Toronto cabinet minister – have billed a total of more than $120,000 in the past three years for hotels, leading opposition parties to accuse the government of entitlement and frivolous spending. In response, the government said this week it was moving to change the rules to prevent such expenses from being approved.
Speaking to reporters at a hospital in Windsor on Thursday, Mr. Ford said he was furious when he found out about the hotel costs.
“Totally unacceptable. And I told them, you’re paying back every single penny. That’s not the way we operate. Simple as that,” he said.
Ford government moves to kill ‘special expenses’
Mr. Ford’s office previously said the expenses would be repaid if they didn’t meet the “intent of the rules.” His office did not respond to a request for clarification on Thursday. The expenses were only claimed by PC MPPs over the past three years, including from Tourism, Culture and Gaming Minister Stan Cho, who represents Willowdale in the north of Toronto and lives several kilometres from Queen’s Park. Mr. Cho billed for more than $16,000 in Toronto hotels since 2023, including more than $11,000 last year alone. He has already said he will repay the money.
The opposition parties said they would continue to press the government over specific details about the hotel stays, and called the move to cut staff in the Premier’s office a distraction.
“When will the Premier give us some actual answers for his members spending hundreds of thousands of dollars for luxury downtown Toronto hotels despite living in the GTA? When will he produce some receipts and explanations?” Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles said in a statement.
“This is clearly an attempt from the Premier to take the heat off from his cabinet ministers and caucus members who got caught with their hands in the taxpayers’ pockets.”
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Tourism, Culture and Gaming Minister Stan Cho represents Willowdale in the north of Toronto and lives several kilometres from Queen’s Park.Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press
Meanwhile, a memo sent Thursday to all of the Premier’s office staff and government chiefs of staff from Mr. Ford’s chief of staff, Travis Kann, said the office is undergoing a hiring freeze and has eliminated 10 positions for an annual savings of more than $1-million.
The Premier’s Office has also faced criticism from the opposition for a jump in staff and salaries in recent years, with the number of staff members earning more than $100,000 more than doubling since Mr. Ford took office in 2018.
Mr. Ford said Thursday the move to cut staff was done to “lead by example.”
“I directed my chief of staff, I want to see a million dollars [in] savings. And that’s a big chunk out of an office,” he said.
The memo said the government “takes very seriously our responsibility to treat taxpayers with respect,” and that it has “prudently managed the size of the Ontario Public Service.” The government has also instituted a hiring freeze in the public service on non-essential positions and required employees to return to the office five days a week, a decision that has faced opposition from unions who argue flexibility improves productivity.
According to the memo, the Premier’s office headcount has been reduced by 10 with annual savings totalling $1,074,500, said Mr. Kann, who took over the job in March.
Mr. Kann said the government has also looked to improve productivity and lower the cost of operations “without compromising our ability to advance the Premier’s ambitious agenda.”
“This has included re-locating personnel within our office or across government to more productive areas, as well as saying goodbye to colleagues. I want to thank them for their contributions to our government and province,” he said.
“To maintain this rigour and discipline, I will be putting in place a hiring freeze for [the] Premier’s Office.”
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He said new hires will require approval by the chief of staff or deputy chief of staff for human resource administration after a review by the HR committee. Promotions and pay increases will continue to be considered “based on merit and contribution,” he said.
Mr. Kann added that he will be working with certain ministries “to encourage comparable savings” and that chiefs are encouraged “to put their hand up if they believe they can achieve savings.”
Interim Liberal Leader John Fraser said the government’s answers about the hotel expenses keep changing, and that cutting a few staff in the Premier’s office does not address the problem of treating the public purse like a “personal piggy bank.”
“It’s a lame attempt to change the channel. That’s what they’re trying to do,” Mr. Fraser said in an interview.
“It’s like, who are you trying to fool?”
