Toronto, ON: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on the Ford government to end car allowances and special perks for government employees after it was reported by Global News that Metrolinx CEO Phil Verster has been paid over $1,000 a month in car allowances for seven years despite not owning or using a car.

“Government employees can walk, drive a car, or even ride a magic carpet to work if they want to, but taxpayers shouldn’t be on the hook to pay the bill,” said CTF Ontario Director Jay Goldberg. “Hardworking Ontarians don’t get a special allowance to get to work and neither should government employees who have their salaries and perks paid for by those very taxpayers.”

Metrolinx CEO Phil Verster has been paid at least $1,000 a month for a car allowance by Ontario taxpayers since he was hired to run Metrolinx in 2017. Global News is reporting that Verster has never owned or leased a car during that period.

Verster is also one of the highest-paid government employees in all of Ontario. Verster received a taxpayer-funded salary of $838,097 in 2023. The provincial government has now announced Verster resigned as CEO at Metrolinx.

“The idea that the government is handing out special allowances to government employees that make more than 10 times as much as the typical Ontarian is infuriating,” said Goldberg. “It shows that cynics are right and there’s an entitled class of government elites that gets to live larger than everyone else on the taxpayer dime.

“The Ford government needs to act and fix this immediately. Special perks like car allowances must be put to an end. Taxpayers are struggling just to fill up their tanks and they shouldn’t be on the hook for fancy government employee perks like car allowances, full stop.”