Living the suite life: Ford’s GTA MPPs bill taxpayers north of $120,000 for luxury hotel stays in downtown Toronto

QUEEN’S PARK — Marit Stiles, Leader of the Official Opposition NDP, is calling on Doug Ford’s GTA MPPs to pay back tens of thousands of dollars spent on luxury hotel stays in downtown Toronto. Media reports from Global News, The Trillium, and the Ontario NDP’s own findings show more than $120,000 in hotel costs from MPPs living as close as five kilometres from Queen’s Park:

“Ford’s MPPs forgot that they were elected to do public service, not get room service with tax dollars,” said Stiles. “Why are the people of Ontario paying for MPPs living in the GTA to stay in luxury downtown Toronto hotels?

“MPP Hardeep Grewal, from Brampton East, billed taxpayers nearly $30,000 for hotel stays while his constituents, the very taxpayers funding his fancy lifestyle, have to commute back and forth.

“Families living in Brampton, Mississauga, Scarborough, don’t get free hotel rooms to go to their jobs, they commute. What makes Ford’s MPPs so special? While Ontarians are putting groceries back on the shelf, or waiting nearly 20 hours in the emergency room, Doug Ford’s government is handing them a $120,000 bill for their luxury lifestyle.

“To Ford’s MPPs: hard-earned taxpayer dollars are not your personal piggy bank. It’s time to come clean: show us the receipts and pay the money back.”