As politicians begin an extended, 21-week summer break from legislating, Premier Doug Ford is facing scrutiny over his own attendance at Queen’s Park.
Data tracked by the Ontario NDP shows the premier skipped roughly one in three sessions of question period during the spring sitting, avoiding a key parliamentary accountability mechanism.
The party found Ford attended 19 of the 30 sitting days since March, but was on time for only seven of them. He was entirely absent for 11 of those days.
“Doug Ford will be getting an ‘F’ for his poor attendance at Queen’s Park,” Leader Marit Stiles said.
“They sat for 30 days, and he only showed up seven times. This is a slap in the face of hard-working Ontarians who show up to their jobs every single day and still can’t make ends meet.”
The party’s notes show the premier attended every day of the first week of question period in late March, when the government returned from a lengthened, 14-week winter break.
The next week, Ford vanished from the legislature. He attended a housing announcement on March 30, before heading down to Texas on a trade trip.
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After that, the premier’s attendance varied.
He missed at least one day every week until the house rose early, often arriving late and with news of conferences and other events sometimes scheduled during question period.
Ontario Liberal leader John Fraser said the premier’s spotty attendance was disrespectful.
“What it shows is shows really is a lack of respect for what happens in question period — which is accountability,” he said.
“It’s a lack of respect when he doesn’t answer questions or at least some questions that are directed to him. It’s a lack of respect for the people of Ontario. It’s not because I’m asking a question, I’m asking a question on behalf of the people of Ontario.”
Ford himself said he’s found it hard to fit in briefings and other events when the legislature is sitting, arguing that government runs smoothly when politicians aren’t at Queen’s Park.
“The next three months, I am jammed,” he told reporters after the legislature rose early on Tuesday.
“They just told me, ‘We don’t have time to brief, you’re jammed all the way through the day.’ Committees still sit, government still runs, we still pass things through ministerial orders, and we’re going full speed.”
The questions about Ford’s attendance at Queen’s Park come as his government confirmed it would add five weeks to the summer break — and not bring MPPs back to the legislature until the end of October.
On Tuesday, House Leader Steve Clark insisted that it was necessary to avoid interfering in municipal elections.
“We want to make sure that municipalities don’t have an interference with our house sitting,” he said. “It’s exactly what we did in 2022.”
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