Former Ontario cabinet minister who resigned over expenses scandal defends promotion

A former member of Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s cabinet who resigned his post over an expenses scandal is defending his recent promotion.

Stan Cho resigned as tourism, culture and gaming minister in July after expensing $16,000 in Toronto hotel stays despite living in the city.

Cho says he made a mistake and has repaid the debt to taxpayers.

Ford recently promoted Cho to parliamentary assistant to Education Minister Paul Calandra, which comes with a $22,000 pay bump.

Publicly available expense records show that some of Ford’s cabinet ministers and other caucus members who live in and near Toronto had been using a so-called special circumstances rule on Toronto hotel expenses since about 2023.

Opposition parties have called for Cho to resign his seat in the legislature and say a promotion is outrageous.