Ford's Office Salaries Soar, Topping Wynne Era

0:00It's March 30th. From your city to your ears, this is Canada News Today, powered by AI. Ontario's latest sunshine list dropped on Friday, exposing some big numbers from Premier Doug Ford's office. 50 top staffers rigged in a combined $8.1 million in 2025, with an average pay of $162,000. Bucks each. That's the first time the office payroll cracked $8 million, all publicly funded employees earning over $100,000 a year. Salaries jumped 10.9% from 2024, way above the 2.1% inflation rate, and the staff count on the list. Grue, 6.4% to. This build up started when Ford took office in 2019, going from 20 people at 2.9 million back then to these record highs now. Opposition leaders are fired up. Indy P boss merit styles called it the biggest, pricies cabinet in history, slamming Ford for fat raises while folks scrape by on multiple gigs of mid-job, woes and skyrocketing costs.

1:03Liberals point to the $13.8 billion deficit as proof of loose spending. The Premier's team stayed quiet on comma requests, but wets a minister Andrea Conjun backed the pay lately, saying these non-unionized folks. Brian 24-7 on urgent economic calls and heavy lifts, deserving top talent in tough times. Numbers like these beat out the old win era too. Her office topped out at 18 staff for 2.8 million in 2017. Critics flag a weird gap, where budget plans list, just 2 million for salaries against the real 8.1 million tab, fueling calls for full. Transparency as the debate heats on.