Longtime PC MPP Lisa MacLeod received more than $44,000 over three years in the form of an allowance from her Ottawa-area riding association, public filings show.
MacLeod, who most recently served in the Ford government as Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries, has served as the MPP for Nepean since 2006. She is seeking re-election on June 2.
According to constituency association annual return filings made publicly available on the Elections Ontario website, MacLeod received $18,200 for “MPP expenses and allowance” in 2018, another $16,727 for “MPP housing/exp allowance” in 2019 and $9,500 for “MPP allowance” in 2020 from the association.
In total, the filings suggest MacLeod received $44,427 in allowance from the constituency association between 2018 and 2020.
According to the documents, over the course of those three years, the party’s constituency association received $32,930 in allowance from Elections Ontario — a public subsidy afforded to each party.
The filings show the constituency association received $8,954 from Elections Ontario in 2018 and $11,874 in 2019. The constituency association was also given $12,102 in 2020.
According to the Sunshine List, MacLeod made a salary of more than $145,000 in 2018, and over $165,000 in both 2019 and 2020 while she served as a minister.
She also received paid travel, meal and hospitality expenses and a housing allowance.
In an email to Global News, Ivana Yelich, a spokesperson for the Ontario Progressive Conservative campaign, said all riding association expenses are “approved by the local riding association executive, audited by a licensed auditor, and all audited financial statements are reviewed and approved by Elections Ontario.”
Global News also reached out to MacLeod for comment, but did not hear back by time of publication.
In a press release Monday, NDP candidate for Waterloo, Catherine Fife, called out MacLeod, saying she had been taking a “top-up from donors and taxpayers.”
“When so many people are being hit by the housing crisis, it’s alarming that Doug Ford is letting an MPP, who already earns six figures, take funds from their donors to pay for personal housing expenses,” Fife said in the release.