Doug Ford defends rebate cheque plan, says election is 'the last thing' on his mind

Insisting an early election is “the last thing on my mind,” Premier Doug Ford is defending his plan to mail cheques to 16 million Ontarians. Asked by reporters Friday in Oshawa if he were trying to “bribe” voters on the eve of spring campaign, the premier bristled. “No, not at all.

It’s moving the government forward,” said Ford. As , Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy’s fall economic statement on Wednesday will outline a plan to send cheques to every Ontario adult and child. While the exact amount of the “tax rebate” cheques is still being finalized, it is expected to be around $200.



The tax-free payments would cost the provincial treasury about $3.2 billion when the money is distributed in late January or early February. Speaking to , Ford stressed “it’s not the government’s money, it’s taxpayers’ money.

” “Anyone who doesn’t want it, send it to the Treasury of Ontario, send your cheque back,” he said Wednesday. Ford has been that he may choose to face voters in March or April, one year ahead of a scheduled June 2026 election. His Progressive Conservatives, , have been blitzing the airwaves with ads attacking Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie, and and .

But he claimed he has been too busy governing to think about electoral concerns. “That’s the last thing on my mind to be very frank,” Ford said at a campaign-style announcement at Lakeridge Health to tout measures to tackle Ontario’s doctors’ shortage. “This job entails — with all our ministers and our partners here — to keep moving non-stop.

Folks, it’s 18 hours a day, make no mistake about it. You just go, go, go, go, go. A million things are coming at you,” he said.

The premier was also pressed about what his government was going to do to address . “They frustrate me,” said Ford, blasting the four trustees in the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic for a $45,000 summer trip to Italy where they purchased $100,000 in religious statues. “Like, the cheese slipped off the cracker with these guys,” he said, incredulously.

“I just don’t get it — common sense.” After public outrage, for the $45,000 in travel expenses and find outside sources to bankroll the $100,000 artwork. Warming to the subject, the premier said it was also “unacceptable” for Thames Valley public school board trustees to spend thousands of dollars for a three-day retreat in August at the Rogers Centre hotel during a Toronto Blue Jays homestand.

“That’s why I directed our to start doing audits on these school boards. They’re the first to scream they need more money and so on so forth. We’re pouring money into school boards, and they’re out partying and .

.. acting like a bunch of yahoos.

”.