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But Ford created ONN — and he isn’t about to cut it.

Ford created ONN — and he isn’t about to cut it

The challenge is that the spending is within the rules of the Ontario legislature. The good news is that rules can be changed. The bad news is that change won’t come easily. It’s going to take creativity from opposition MPPs and a push from taxpayers. It’s a bit technical, but it’s completely doable.

Ontario News Now is not really a new idea, but it does come in a different package than usual. It’s just the latest use of the money politicians give themselves through their caucus services budget.

The caucus services budget comes from the legislature, not the government. It is not subject to the same strict rules as government departments on the use of taxpayer funds for partisan work.

This year, caucus services for the PC and NDP parties were allocated $13.7 million for salaries, services and communication. (The Liberal and Green parties do not receive the funding because they are not recognized parties in the legislature.) While some of that spending may be legitimate, obvious nonsense such as News Now needs to go.

Photo by Ontario News Now/Postmedia

One approach would be to amend the Legislature of Ontario Act, which governs budgets for caucus services. The act is broad, allowing for an appropriation for “research” and for other such uses “as the caucus may determine.” But any MPP can introduce legislation to exclude partisan waste.

Nerdy political naysayers will dismiss this option because such a bill could (in practice) be blocked by any single MPP. That’s because a bill attempting to restrict MPPs’ spending of legislative funds would infringe on the parliamentary privilege of members, and on the sovereignty of the legislature. But that opens an opportunity: what MPP wants to publicly stand in opposition to cutting this waste, and would they be willing to face the blowback from angry taxpayers?