Doug Ford gifted with can of gravy amid office spending blowback

Ontario Premier Doug Ford was given an unusual gift as he arrived at the provincial legislature for question period: a can of gravy that critics say represents the ballooning costs of the premier’s office.

As first reported by Global News, the Premier’s Office under Ford has grown in size and cost over the last five years and now includes 48 staff earning more than $100,000 a year, an increase from 20 employees on the provincial Sunshine List in 2019.

While the Premier’s Office currently has roughly 80 employee positions listed in the government directory, the salaries of the 48 staff on the Sunshine List alone grew to $6.9 million in 2023, up from $2.9 million in 2019.

Ford, who now presides over the most expensive Premier’s Office in provincial history, has been accused of operating his own gravy train — a term Ford’s brother Rob Ford used as a campaign slogan battle cry in 2010 and which propelled him into the Toronto mayor’s office in a landslide victory.

Liberal MPP John Fraser, who levelled the gravy train accusation at the premier, attempted to drive home that point by gifting Ford a can of mushroom gravy.

“I did that to remind him that he more than doubled the staff in his office to 48 people who are all on the Sunshine List, all of whom make more than the median family income in Ontario,” Fraser said.

“I think that’s obscene.”

Ahead of Ford’s arrival in the legislature, Fraser waved around the can of gravy before he placed it into a black bag, along with an attached note, and asked a Legislative Page to walk it over to the government benches.

The bag was accepted by a quizzical-looking Housing Minister Paul Calandra, who asked another cabinet minister to slip it into the premier’s desk.

“It was important to remind him of his own words,” Fraser said. “What’s happening in his office and the expansion of his office is the gravy train.”

Global News asked the Premier’s Office about the increased expenditures and whether any steps are being taken to dial back the spending. The Premier’s Office did not respond.

Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner believes the premier should be reviewing his office expenses and paring back costs.

“The premier’s office budget needs to just be downgraded and the premier can figure out the best way to do that,” Schreiner said.

&© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.