The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on Premier Doug Ford to overhaul Ontario's expense disclosure rules after reports that several Progressive Conservative MPPs billed taxpayers for hotel stays in Toronto despite living within commuting distance of Queen's Park.The taxpayer advocacy group says the controversy highlights the need for stronger transparency and accountability measures, including mandatory publication of itemized receipts, expanded access to expense records through freedom of information laws and recall legislation allowing voters to remove elected officials between elections."Premier Doug Ford needs to make sure his MPPs pay taxpayers back the money and establish real reforms to make sure this doesn't happen again," said Noah Jarvis, the CTF's Ontario director. "That means giving taxpayers the transparency and accountability tools to root out politician waste and hold MPPs accountable to their constituents."The call follows reports that multiple cabinet ministers and government MPPs claimed thousands of dollars in hotel expenses despite living within 50 kilometres of the Ontario legislature.According to the CTF, former tourism minister Stan Cho billed taxpayers $16,203 for hotel stays, MPP Hardeep Grewal claimed $28,008 and Small Business Minister Nina Tangri charged $18,976 in hotel costs since the 2022 provincial election.The federation is urging the Ford government to require all MPPs and cabinet ministers to proactively publish itemized receipts for expenses, including travel, meals and hospitality costs.The group pointed to Alberta as an example, noting provincial politicians and cabinet ministers there are already required to post receipts online for public review.The CTF is also calling on Ontario to reverse recent amendments to the province's Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, arguing the changes make it more difficult for taxpayers to obtain politicians' expense records..In addition, the organization wants Ontario to adopt recall legislation that would allow voters to petition for the removal of an MPP before the next scheduled election.The federation noted Alberta and British Columbia already have recall laws. Alberta requires signatures from 60% of voters who cast ballots in the riding to trigger a byelection, while British Columbia requires signatures from 40% of registered voters."Ontarians are entitled to know how politicians are spending their money down to the last cent, so they should post the receipts and respect taxpayers' right to get the paperwork through freedom-of-information requests," Jarvis said."And when politicians get off track, it shouldn't be up to party bigwigs to deal with it in the backrooms."He added that elected officials ultimately answer to voters and said recall legislation would allow the public, rather than political parties, to determine the consequences when politicians lose the public's trust.
