Ontario Premier Doug Ford revealed his new majority government will include 43 parliamentary aides, a role that comes with additional duties and a $16,600 annual salary increase.
Ford announced the list on Wednesday. The appointments mean that in addition to Ford’s 30-member cabinet, 73 of the 83 MPs in the Progressive Conservative faction have been given additional government roles and corresponding pay increases.
The base salary for all MPPs in Ontario is $116,500, while cabinet ministers earn $165,850.
The last Ford government had 25 parliamentary assistants. After winning a majority government in 2014, former prime minister Kathleen Wynne appointed 29 people to the role.
Some cabinet ministers, such as Sylvia Jones for health, Peter Bethlenfalvey for finance, Stephen Leche for education and Michael Ford for citizenship and multiculturalism, will have two parliamentary assistants.
In a statement, the NDP said Ford “will have to answer why he thinks so many of his MPPs should get a slight raise while withholding everyone else’s pay” — an allusion to Bill 124, which caps public sector pay increases.
“It’s shocking that Doug Ford is inviting MPs to jump aboard his two-at-a-time gravy train — doubling parliamentary assistants in several portfolios and giving dozens of Conservatives big pay raises,” said interim NDP leader Peter Tabbans.
There is also a chance for the 10 Tory MPs not on the list to get a pay rise. The chair, vice-chairs, caucus chair, whip and legislative committee chairs also get a pay rise.
CBC News reported Wednesday night that the Ford government will recall the legislature in early August.
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