Ford blasts Simcoe County councillors over vote to increase salary levels

Ontario Premier Doug Ford blasted a recent vote by County of Simcoe council to instill pay increases for councillors during an unrelated news conference Friday morning.

“It’s like the fox taking care of the henhouse. They’re all voting for their increase,” Ford said.

Ford was in Oshawa for a health care announcement, but during the media question and answer period, the premier was asked about school board spending, which led to Ford ranting about County council.

“Simcoe region, uh … councillors, I guess they’re called; I don’t even know why we have the region, but here nor there,” the premier began. “They vote themselves; get ready for this -167 per cent increase in salary. Wouldn’t that be great if we could all just increase our salary?”

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The premier didn’t mince words on the subject.

“This has to stop,” Ford declared Friday morning. “That’s what frustrates me, when you’re wasting taxpayers money and then you’re out on the other side screaming I need more money. Stop blowing the taxpayers money and be responsible.”

This week, the County voted in favour of phasing in new-level salaries for the remainder of the 2022-2026 council term.

A statement issued earlier this week on behalf of County Warden Basil Clarke addressing the pay increase reads in part, “Our council recognized this is a challenging discussion to have; however, felt it was important to make the decision before the next election.”

Clarke stated the County’s wages are “significantly behind other municipalities of similar size,” adding, “This is due to making no changes to council salaries for the past several years, despite the continual rise of inflation and cost of living."

Councillors opted to gradually increase their salaries over the next three years, moving from the current rate of $18,079 to a final annual amount of $47,717 by 2027.

During discussions, councillors agreed current pay levels were outdated, having remained largely stagnant for nearly two decades.

“After a lengthy discussion at council, where many opinions and preferences were heard, it was determined that County councillors and the role of the Warden will receive incremental increases in their compensation over the next three years, which will lessen the impact on the budget, while slowly bringing the rates of compensation up to the levels of other municipalities,” the warden added.

Council also noted concerns the current pay scale would deter new candidates from seeking elected office.

County Warden Basil Clarke will join CTV News Senior Anchor Sarah Freemark tonight on CTV News at 6.

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.