Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he will not reduce the size of his cabinet or the number of parliamentary assistants he employs following an all-party agreement to raise the salaries of MPPs, which had been capped for 16 years.
Last week, legislation to increase the base salary for an MPP at Queen’s Park from $116,550 to $157,250 passed all three readings and became law within minutes of being tabled.
The 35 per cent raise for MPPs ended a lengthy salary freeze and was justified by the Progressive Conservatives, the NDP, the Liberals and the Greens as being necessary to attract better candidates.
On Friday, Premier Ford also said the pay increase was necessary — but that he would not reduce the size of his front bench or assistants — despite previously saying he had handed out some titles to help with the “tough” cost of living.
In October, Ford suggested some of his decisions to select parliamentary assistants — who then made $16,0000 more than an MPP — were at least partly to make up for “unfair” base salaries. That top-up now sits at around $22,000, after the salary increase law passed.
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“Everyone go after politicians, I get it, I don’t need the raise and so on and so forth,” Ford said back in October.
“But there’s people that get into this job and there’s no public or private sector that has not got raise — and I don’t plan on doing this — all political stripes, since 2007. That’s just not fair. I don’t care if you’re a politician or not — but 2007?”
On Friday, however, Ford said the raise all parties had agreed would not lead to him shedding cabinet ministers or parliamentary assistants.
“This is fairness,” he said of the raise. “These people of all political stripes are working — doesn’t matter if you’re NDP, Green, Liberal or PC — are working 60 hours a week. There’s no one in this country that hasn’t had a raise for 16 years. It’s not fair.”
The premier’s latest cabinet, announced in March, contains 37 ministers and associate ministers, the joint-largest cabinet in the province’s history. The previous record was also held by Ford.
Ford’s latest inner circle costs roughly $7 million per year in salaries — up from $3.6 million in 2018 and $5 million in 2022. With the cost of parliamentary assistants included, Ford’s team earns roughly $15.2 million annually, up from $7 million in 2018 and $10 million in 2022.
Ontario Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie said, with the salary increase now agreed by all parties, Ford should trim his cabinet and parliamentary assistant roster.
“We’ve seen the example from the prime minister, who has reduced the size of cabinet, I think the premier should follow suit,” she said.
“In addition to the number of people (in cabinet), he has in excess of 50 staffers in his office, and that’s unprecedented as well. And those individuals, young people, (are) earning more than the average family income.”
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