MPPs in commuter towns spending thousands on Toronto accommodations
MPPs living within relatively easy driving distance of Queen’s Park are racking up tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars a year to live in Toronto.

TheStar.com
July 24, 2014
Richard J. Brennan

MPPs living within relatively easy driving distance of Queen’s Park are spending tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars a year to live in Toronto.

Annual members’ expenses for travel and Toronto accommodation (2013-14) that were released Thursday show MPPs from places as close as Barrie, Hamilton and Cambridge are spending as much as $22,000 each a year on housing allowance so they don’t have to drive or take the GO train to work — the same trip that thousands of commuters do every day.

Who’s collecting a housing allowance

The regulations allow MPPs to collect a housing allowance for lodging when they live more than 50 kilometres from the legislature, but some MPPs are now suggesting it may be time to review the distance requirement — especially since night sittings are rare.

Tory MPP Christine Elliott (Whitby-Oshawa) could claim for a downtown apartment — as 16 of her legislative colleagues in a similar situation do — but refuses to be any different from her constituents.

“I recognize that most of my constituents take the GO train everyday and they commute so I should be no different,” Elliott, who charged just over $5,000 for travelling between home and the legislature, told the Star.

MPPs living within commuter distance are spending about $500,000 on Toronto accommodations.

Liberal House Leader Yasir Naqvi said he looks forward to the legislature’s Board of Internal Economy discussing whether the allowance rule should be reopened. The board is responsible for money spent by the legislature and by the MPPs.

“Perhaps this issue will come up to be discussed.”

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath (Hamilton Centre), who has a Toronto apartment, noted that there are seldom night sittings, which was one of the reasons in past years to justify the home away from home paid for by taxpayers.

“I think it important to look at these things and see if they are still relevant,” she said.

Veteran Progressive Conservative MPP Ernie Hardeman (Oxford) drives 330 km round trip from his home near Woodstock each day when the house is sitting. However, he charged more than $17,000 for travelling between his home and Queen’s Park.

“I enjoy being home every night,” said Hardeman, who leaves home at 4:45 a.m. to beat the traffic.

The housing allowance made headlines last fall when it was reported that then Thornhill MPP Peter Shurman was charging for a Toronto residence because he had moved to Niagara-on-the-Lake. The issue ended when Shurman, who insisted he had followed all the rules, later decided to quit and the Ontario government closed a long-standing loophole that enabled MPPs to receive housing allowances even if their ridings were close to Queen’s Park.

Tory house leader Steve Clark (Leeds-Grenville) said whether an MPP needs to have a place to stay in Toronto depends a great deal on what extra duties they might have.

The 107 MPPs spent $2.7 million on travel and Toronto accommodation expenses for 2013-14 and another $28 million on office and support staff expenses, according to the annual report.