Taxpayers will be on the hook for as much as $558,000 after a rookie New Democrat MPP suddenly quit for unspecified “personal” reasons just five months after being elected.

Joe Cimino is entitled to six months’ pay — a golden handshake worth $58,000 — under the Legislative Assembly Act, while Elections Ontario puts the tab for a byelection in his Sudbury riding at between $350,000 and $500,000.

It is unclear whether Cimino, a 45-year-old former elementary school teacher, will accept the payout based on an MPP’s annual base salary of $116,550. He did not return calls seeking comment.

With Premier Kathleen Wynne now obligated to call a byelection on or before May 20, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said Tuesday she expects voters will be sympathetic.

“It’s an unfortunate situation, I don’t think anyone wanted it to end this way, I don’t even think Joe wanted it to end this way but he put his family first. I think people understand that,” Horwath told the Star.

Cimino, a former Sudbury city councillor whose resemblance to former Toronto mayor Rob Ford made headlines during the June 12 election, resigned Nov. 20.

He had been nominated as the NDP candidate after a hotly contested race on Oct. 13, 2013 at a meeting attended by Horwath and 800 party members.

The married father of two young daughters cited “my personal health and wellness and, more importantly, the well-being of my family” for his resignation.

In pleading for privacy, he said balancing the demands of public and family life were easier as a city councillor than as an MPP spending weekdays at Queen’s Park.

“Unfortunately the pendulum has swung too far to one side in the last several months,” Cimino wrote in a statement at the time.

A senior Liberal official said a byelection looms early in the new year.

“While there’s no desire to have Sudbury residents go though a byelection over the holiday season, we will be moving quickly so that that community regains the stable representation they deserve,” the insider said.

Cimino’s abrupt departure was a blow to the NDP, which had wrested the riding from the Liberals by just 980 votes in the election that vaulted Wynne to a majority and left Horwath without the balance of power she had enjoyed since October 2011.

Andrew Olivier, the runner-up Liberal candidate who wanted to make history as Ontario’s first quadriplegic MPP, has indicated he again wants to be the Grit flag-bearer,

Horwath, who has frequently criticized the Liberals for wasting-money scandals, said she hopes her party will not be punished at the polls for the extra costs in the wake of Cimino’s decision.

“People are pretty generous-hearted when it comes to decisions that folks make in the best interest of their family and their kids. That’s certainly what I would expect in this byelection.”

The NDP is searching for a candidate and girding for a battle, with Liberals keen on regaining the riding held until last June by former cabinet minister Rick Bartolucci, who retired from politics.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

“There’s no doubt it’s going to be a rigorous campaign and we’re going to be fighting really hard,” said Horwath.

“We think that the people of Sudbury voted for Joe because they knew that New Democrats would have a strong voice for them.”

Holding the riding will be a point of pride for the NDP. Horwath, who lost three key Toronto ridings in the June election, said that blow was offset by gaining ridings in Sudbury, Oshawa and Windsor.

There are now 58 Liberals in the legislature, including Speaker Dave Levac, 28 Progressive Conservatives, 20 New Democrats and one vacancy.

Read more about: