JAY GOLDBERG: Ford’s cabinet reflects lack of respect for taxpayers

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Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s cabinet was already embarrassingly large. A surprise resignation should have been an opportunity to shed some dead weight.

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But somehow, Ford managed to add yet another cook into his already jam-packed kitchen. Ontario’s cabinet has now ballooned to nearly federal proportions.

Former education minister Todd Smith suddenly resigned from cabinet last week, triggering a small cabinet shuffle.

Ford was already heading up the largest cabinet in Ontario history. When Ford was elected, his first cabinet had 21 members. Before Smith’s resignation, it had already increased to 36.

Ford could have used Smith’s resignation to shrink the size of his cabinet. Instead, Ford made his massive cabinet even larger.

It’s almost like a sleight-of-hand trick that’s hard to follow, but leaves your wallet lighter.

Former colleges and universities minister Jill Dunlop was promoted to the education file. Nolan Quinn, who had been associate minister of forestry, took Dunlop’s file.

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So far, rather simple.

Now Ford had a choice. He already has a natural resources minister. He could have let forestry go back to natural resources and prune cabinet by a position. But he just couldn’t resist going back to the cabinet appointment buffet. Ford replaced Quinn with Kevin Holland.

And then, for no obvious reason, Ford added yet another cabinet position by creating an associate minister of auto theft and bail reform out of thin air. Graham McGregor was handed that portfolio.

Yes, auto theft and bail reform are important issues. But those issues are already handled by the province’s solicitor general. McGregor will be reporting directly to him. And does anyone think their SUV disappeared because there wasn’t a cabinet minister watching it?

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Why in the world do we have a solicitor general if he can’t deal with auto theft? Or bail reform? Isn’t he the head of Ontario’s law enforcement?

The solicitor general’s job description reads: “Ensuring Ontario’s communities are supported and protected by law enforcement, and that public safety and correctional systems are safe, effective and accountable.”

Could anyone read that job description and conclude the solicitor general isn’t responsible for dealing with auto theft and bail reform?

McGregor’s appointment is a slap in the face to Solicitor General Michael Kerzner.

And now taxpayers are stuck paying McGregor’s salary of $165,000 to do a completely redundant job that Kerzner should already be handling.

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Canadians are frustrated with big-government politicians. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is languishing in the polls and one reason is all the bloat and debt he’s added to the nation’s bottom line.

But how many cabinet ministers does big-government Trudeau have? Thirty-nine.

With his latest cabinet shuffle, Ford’s cabinet is just two spots shy of Trudeau’s, despite representing just one-third of the country’s population.

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It is by far the largest cabinet in Ontario’s history. Fully 47% of the governing caucus is now in cabinet. And it is the largest provincial cabinet in the history of the nation.

Ford’s big cabinet will cost Ontario’s taxpayers even more in terms of staffers and bureaucrats.

But there’s a deeper problem: Ford’s big cabinet is a symptom of a larger issue. The truth is the premier is addicted to big government.

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This is a premier who’s added $86 billion to Ontario’s debt, increased government spending by nearly $60 billion a year and only balanced the budget once in six tries.

Ford likes to talk a big game about fiscal responsibility. He regularly says, “Folks, the worst place you could ever give your money to is the government.”

But Ford has trouble walking the walk.

The Ford government is as bloated as your friend after all-you-can-eat wings night.

It’s time for change. Ford needs to slim down the size of government — fast. It’s time to shrink the cabinet, cut spending and balance the budget.

— Jay Goldberg is Ontario director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation

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