Former Ontario Minister Receives Pay Raise After Expenses Scandal
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Stan Cho, who resigned as tourism minister after expensing $16,000 in Toronto hotel stays, has been promoted to parliamentary assistant.
Former Ontario tourism, culture and gaming minister Stan Cho has been promoted to parliamentary assistant to Education Minister Paul Calandra, according to Global News Toronto. The new role includes a $22,000 increase in pay.
Cho previously resigned from his cabinet post in July following an expenses scandal. Global News Toronto reports that Cho expensed $16,000 for hotel stays in Toronto, despite the fact that he resides in the city. Cho has stated that he made a mistake and has since repaid the funds to taxpayers.
Publicly available expense records indicate that since approximately 2023, several of Premier Doug Ford's caucus members and cabinet ministers living in or near Toronto utilized a "special circumstances rule" to claim Toronto hotel expenses, per Global News Toronto.
Opposition parties have described the promotion as "outrageous" and have called for Cho to resign his seat in the legislature.