Two Progressive Conservative MPPs based in Brampton, Ont., say they have repaid tens of thousands of dollars for hotel rooms in downtown Toronto after a spending scandal that saw one cabinet minister resign.
Hardeep Grewal and Charmaine Williams, who represent Brampton East and Brampton Centre, said they had repaid $27,275 and $15,865 respectively for Toronto hotel rooms after being ordered to do so by Premier Doug Ford.
“The funds have been returned and the provision has been closed,” Grewal, who spent more on hotels than any other MPP over the past three years, said at an unrelated event on Tuesday.
At the same event, Williams also indicated she had paid back the taxpayer-funded rooms.
“The premier’s wishes have been granted; all the funds have been paid back,” she said.
The two MPPs were part of a broader hotel spending scandal earlier in the summer where some government members who lived either in or near Toronto booked hotel rooms in the city instead of driving home.
While some Progressive Conservatives billed a few hundred to a few thousand for rooms, Grewal and Williams were part of a group of four people who spent significantly more.
Get breaking National news
Between 2023 and 2026, four MPPs topped the list:
- Hardeep Grewal – $27,275
- Nina Tangri – $18,976
- Stan Cho – $16,203
- Charmaine Williams – $15,856
Government responds to scandal
After the scandal broke, the government quickly moved to eliminate the expense altogether, leaving caucus members feeling deprived of what was widely viewed as a legitimate benefit that was being abused by a handful of MPPs.
- ‘Keep human culture alive’: Halifax music venue takes a stand against AI posters
- An island is floating around a B.C. reservoir — and it keeps disappearing
- Private company to take over New Brunswick veterinary services next year
- George Clooney calls out Pete Hegseth for mocking Canadian military cadets
A significant part of the anger appeared to be directed at the premier’s office and Ford himself, who has offered shifting responses to the scandal.
Ford has publicly called the hotel expenses incurred by Cho a “mistake,” labelled other hotel expenses by PC MPPs “unacceptable” and vowed that they would pay “every penny” back to taxpayers.
But the premier’s anger at his MPPs appears to directly contradict what his government was privately telling its members over the past four years.
The scandal developed after Global News was first to report on the hotel room expenses incurred by members of the Ford government who live within driving distance of Queen’s Park.
Progressive Conservative MPPs including Grewal and Williams submitted the expenses under a “special circumstance” designation normally reserved for emergencies such as a snowstorm.
Tourism Minister Stan Cho, who lives less than six kilometres away from Queen’s Park, received the most scrutiny after billing taxpayers for more than $16,000 in Toronto hotel room stays over the past three years.
Cho resigned his cabinet role over the scandal and said he had repaid the full cost of the hotel rooms he claimed.
The government has not yet published proof that Cho, Williams or Grewal have repaid the hotel room costs in full.
I don’t care what party you support. Absolutely this money should be paid back and these crooks lose their positions. End of story. A crook is a crook.
They repaid because they got caught. Have they no conscience abusing tax payer’s hard earned money?
Yet the LPC blow billions of tax dollars/year, not to mention what the senate wastes, we get nothing but crickets from the tax dollar subsidized media. Canada has become a laughing stock, Alberta out!
Ford orchestrated this. Is he an immigrant.
@Paul These settler colonizers can do what they like just like the Eurotrash that immigrated before them
@Mike Battler Obviously. The natives were wiped out centuries ago. Its all white inbreds like you now.
Global working hard to diminish public view of the conservative party today.. this is like the 4th likewise article. A snap election looks like it’s coming down the pipe.. Carney wants a majority that wasn’t ill gotten and can be challenged.
Did the Ontario Government actually tell these immigrants they were not allowed to do that? No!
Oink oink, only because you were caught
Another “glass of orange juice” tactic by the media
Immigrants