{"id":808125,"date":"2026-07-17T15:49:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T15:49:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/808125\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T15:49:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T15:49:10","slug":"stan-cho-resigns-from-ford-cabinet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/808125\/","title":{"rendered":"Stan Cho resigns from Ford cabinet"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ontario Tourism, Culture and Gaming Minister Stan Cho has resigned from Premier Doug Ford\u2019s cabinet, saying he made \u201ca mistake\u201d by claiming accommodation expenses for overnight stays in Toronto.<\/p>\n

In a resignation letter released Friday, Cho said his decision was effective immediately.<\/p>\n

\u201cLooking back now, I made a mistake. I am taking full responsibility, as I do not want to be a distraction from our plan to grow the economy, keep families safe, and build this province,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

The resignation comes days after reports revealed several Greater Toronto Area Progressive Conservative MPPs had claimed taxpayer-funded hotel expenses despite living within commuting distance of Queen\u2019s Park, prompting Premier Ford\u2019s government to announce it would eliminate the long-standing expense rule.<\/p>\n

\u2018I made a choice\u2019<\/p>\n

Cho added that he had claimed accommodations in Toronto on nights when the legislature sat late because of the demands of his schedule and his young family.<\/p>\n

\u201cI made a choice that was easier for me. I did not stop to ask how it would look to a person in my riding working a double shift,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

Cho added that he has personally repaid the expenses \u201cin full, to the penny.\u201d<\/p>\n

The resignation comes one day after Ford publicly condemned the claims, calling them \u201ctotally unacceptable\u201d and saying the affected MPPs would repay \u201cevery single penny.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Ford also noted that he was so upset when he spoke to caucus about the expenses that he had to be pulled \u201coff the roof.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ford weighs in on resignation<\/p>\n

In a statement<\/a> Friday, Ford said he had accepted Cho\u2019s resignation and thanked him for taking responsibility.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has acknowledged and taken responsibility for his mistake. He will continue to serve the people of Willowdale as their Member of Provincial Parliament,\u201d Ford said.<\/p>\n

\"\"Ontario Premier Doug Ford Ontario Premier Doug Ford speaks at a news conference in Windsor, Ont. on Thursday, July 16, 2026. <\/p>\n

Ford also announced that Doug Downey will be taking on \u201cadditional Cabinet responsibilities on an interim basis.\u201d<\/p>\n

The premier also confirmed that Neil Lumsden will retire<\/a> from cabinet and the provincial legislature effective Aug. 4, thanking him for his public service and role supporting Toronto\u2019s hosting of the FIFA World Cup.<\/p>\n

How much did Cho spend? <\/p>\n

Expense records this week revealed that Cho had billed taxpayers more than $16,000 for Toronto hotel stays since 2023 despite representing the north Toronto riding of Willowdale.<\/p>\n

Records also showed several other Progressive Conservative MPPs who live in or around the Greater Toronto Area claimed thousands of dollars for Toronto hotel stays under a legislative rule allowing accommodation reimbursements in \u201cspecial circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to Cho, Brampton East MPP Hardeep Grewal billed more than $27,000 in Toronto hotel expenses since 2023. Associate Small Business Minister Nina Tangri, who represents Mississauga-Streetsville, claimed nearly $19,000, while Associate Women\u2019s Social and Economic Opportunity Minister Charmaine Williams, the MPP for Brampton Centre, billed more than $15,000.<\/p>\n

There is no word yet on if other ministers in Ford\u2019s cabinet plan to resign. <\/p>\n

\u2018Living the suite life on your dime\u2019<\/p>\n

NDP Leader Marit Stiles has chimed in reacting to Cho\u2019s decision by suggesting that the resignation \u201cdoesn\u2019t explain a single hotel bill.\u201d <\/p>\n

In a post to social media<\/a>, Stiles said \u201che was living the suite life on your dime, got caught, and is now dodging accountability. The refund is still owed. So are the answers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Stiles\/Fraser Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles, Left: THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Laura Proctor. Interim Liberal leader John Fraser, Right: THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Cole Burston <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, in a statement to CTV News, Interim Liberal leader John Fraser said \u201cthis is just the tip of the iceberg,\u201d adding that province should also release the receipts. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s more to the story than just Stan Cho\u2019s hotel rooms. There are more ministers and members, and there are more scandals,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sense of entitlement starts at the top with the Premier buying himself a luxury private jet, and it just trickles on down… Doug Ford needs to show us the receipts: who was where, when, and why. The public deserves to know.\u201d<\/p>\n

With files from the Canadian Press…<\/p>\n

Related Stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ontario Tourism, Culture and Gaming Minister Stan Cho has resigned from Premier Doug Ford\u2019s cabinet, saying he made…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":808126,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194291],"tags":[712,49,48,3302],"class_list":["post-808125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto","tag-apple-news","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-toronto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=808125"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808125\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/808126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=808125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=808125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=808125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}