Will the Stan Cho affair bring down the Ford government? The ON Science Centre didn't. ON Place didn't. the 413 and greenbelt didn't. COVID deaths didn't. Beer in corner stores didn't. Metrolinx and the mob didn't. The #gravyplane made a dent.
Inquiring minds want to know
NEW: In the summer of 2024, as PC MPPs began charging taxpayers for Toronto hotel stays, members of the Ford gov’t pushed to update expense rules for elected officials.
Specifically: to expand the “special circumstances” category to go beyond extreme weather events and include night sittings at Queen’s Park.
The very rules they’re now looking to eliminate.
https://t.co/ooiaoAp89Q
#onpoli
Worth saying here that night sittings are entirely optional, the Liberals largely did away with them as a pro-family measure for MPPs and their staffs, this govt uses them to shorten the sitting calendar.
Stan Cho says in his resignation letter that he expensed hotels when the legislature sat late.
He billed taxpayers more than $6,000 in December, when no sitting ran later than 6:31 p.m.
Doug Ford didn’t address the discrepancy when I asked him about it just now.
“Stan did the right thing,” he said.
#onpoli
Interesting to note that Premier Doug Ford claims Stan Cho made a "mistake."
But the "mistake" happened repeatedly over three years:
2023-24: $1,431 in Toronto accommodation
2024-25: $3,081 in Toronto accommodation
2025-26: $11,691 in Toronto accommodation
The "mistake" was also being repeatedly made by multiple PC MPPS to the overall tune of $120,000
#onpoli
Stan Cho's resignation doesn't explain a single hotel bill.
He was living the suite life on your dime, got caught, and is now dodging accountability.
The refund is still owed. So are the answers.
And Former Minister Cho wasn't alone: Hardeep Grewal billed nearly $30,000, and Nina Tangri and Charmaine Williams billed tens of thousands more.
Do they still have the Premier's confidence?
A Toronto-area cabinet minister billed taxpayers more than $16,000 for Toronto hotel stays despite living about 6 km from Queen's Park.
So we took a TTC trip of roughly the same distance just to see what all the fuss was about.
Spoiler: We made it in under 30 minutes.
#onpoli