Ottawa, ON: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is criticizing Ontario Premier Doug Ford for once again expanding the size of the provincial cabinet with his Thursday afternoon cabinet shuffle.

“The Ford gravy train just keeps taking on more cargo with this ridiculously oversized cabinet,” said CTF Ontario Director Jay Goldberg. “Ford has handed Ontario taxpayers the most expensive cabinet in Ontario history with 36 members. Today’s cabinet is 15 members larger than the one Ford first appointed when he became premier just six short years ago.”

Ford added five new members to cabinet on June 5.

The Ford government now has a total of eight associate ministries, with each junior minister reporting to a senior counterpart. Because junior ministries are created within larger ministries, these cabinet positions are redundant.

“Ford should have used this shuffle as an opportunity to streamline the government and show taxpayers that he respects their hard-earned taxpayer dollars,” said Goldberg. “This bloated cabinet is a slap in the face to Ontarians who are struggling to pay the bills.”

Cabinet ministers in Ontario receive $165,000 in salary, which is 42 per cent more than a base MPP salary of $116,500. If Ford’s cabinet still had 21 members, Ontario taxpayers would be saving more than $700,000 on additional ministerial salary alone.

Forty-five per cent of the Progressive Conservative caucus is now in cabinet.