Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he plans to end the 16 year pay freeze for MPPs, only days after securing a third consecutive majority government for the Progressive Conservatives.
Ford’s campaign platform did not include raising MPP salaries or ending the freeze and thus far he hasn’t shared any details about when these changes could come into effect.
Ford referenced the lack of pensions for MPPs and the fact that “they work their backs off” as justification for his measure, also suggesting that he would propose a bipartisan effort to review compensation.
For 16 years since the 2008 financial crisis, Ontario MPP salaries have been capped at $116,550.
The measure was brought in as part of response measures to the 2008 financial crisis by then-Premier Dalton McGuinty who like Ford was able to lead his party to three consecutive electoral victories, but unlike Ford, his last was a minority government where he eventually resigned from his position after 9 years.
Ford’s critics in the past have accused the premier of running a “gravy train”, when he gave three of his PC MPPs new titles, which came with higher pay. This happened during last October’s pay raise without the need to change MPP salaries across the board.
The end to the pay freeze means an increase in salaries of all members of Ontario’s legislature is possible through
When Ford first formed the government in 2018, they had 21 members, and then increased it to a 28 member sized cabinet after a reshuffle in June of 2019.
After the 2022 election, 30 members made up Ford’s cabinet after his first election, and after his latest reshuffle in June of last year, he increased the number to 36 members overall.
Only three months later Ford appointed Kevin Holland as a minister, taking it to the highest figure in Ontario’s history with 37 members of the provincial cabinet.