Stan Cho burns $84K in donor cash on steak dinners, Jays games, luxury hotels

Cho chief out, too

SUMMER OF STAN

News Fridays, am I right? Cheat sheet:

Fresh off a Northern swing and wildfire-fighting tour, the Premier is back at the podium this morning before heading East to the Council of the Federation…

Oppo critics aren’t buying embattled ex-minister STAN CHO’s excuse for racking up a $16K hotel bill at the Leg despite living six kilometres away…

And it ain’t (ahem, as one NDPer put it) “Cho-ver” yet: I’ve parsed Cho’s political party receipts — the expenses that are bankrolled by PC donors through his Willowdale riding association — and there are loads of swanky dinners, high-end hotels and more….

The hits just keep on coming: Days after Global News revealed Cho’s much-maligned $16k hotel tab, the former Tourism Minister announced his resignation, saying he had made a “mistake,” insisting all such expenses over the last three years were because of night sittings.

Critics are poking holes in his explanation, noting more than $6K was expensed last December, when MPPs didn’t sit past 8 p.m. And he shouldn’t be the only one to resign, the Liberals and NDP say, pointing out that several PCs have claimed overnight stays despite living within or around the 50-km border from the Leg.

Clubhouse mutiny: PC MPPs also aren’t happy with how L’affaire Hotel is shaking out. I’ve spoken to four members of caucus and cabinet who are feeling betrayed and even scapegoated because, initially, Premier DOUG FORD told them during a caucus meeting that they would only have to pay back expenses that didn’t meet “the spirit” of the (now-defunct) 50-km rule.

Then after serious blowback, Ford is now publicly saying they’ll have to pay back every single “penny.” Some MPPs believe their expenses were legit under the rules the PCs themselves pushed to loosen. At this point, it’s unclear how many besides Cho have paid up.

Dining out on donors’ dime: Cho, who has been relegated to the PC backbench, wasn’t only expensing the Legislature for hotels. Turns out that over the last two years, he’s racked up more than $84K in hospitality expenses on the PC party side.

That cash comes from PC donors — folks who believe in the cause who donate to help candidates win campaigns. Such contributions are subsidized by the taxpayer; they’re subject to a tax credit, and riding associations would receive a slice of the per-vote subsidy. The expense rules tend to be looser on the political party side — for example, candidates may splurge on pizza and coffee for door-knocking volunteers, or they might book a hotel for an out-of-town party fundraiser.

But Cho’s receipts from 2024 and 2025 — including his Willowdale constituency’s annual and campaign returns, as well as his candidate returns — show a big chunk of change was blown on intimate steak and lobster dinners (plus restaurants that appear to be out of province), Rogers Centre suites and Jays games, high-end hotels and more.

By the numbers — Restaurants:

• Sher-E-Punjab: $9,708

• The Albany Club: $7,164 (including catering and room rental)

• Nome Izakaya: $4,488

• St. Louis Bar & Grill: $4,037

• Galleria Supermarket: $3,166

• LCBO: $2,934

• Ernie’s Coffee Shop: $1,552

• Shanghai Restaurant: $1,538

• Daldongnae: $1,480

• Sushi Moto: $1,364

• Fishman Lobster Clubhouse: $1,212

• Dakgogi: $1,212

• Spago Trattoria: $1,184

• Boston Pizza: $1,178

• Mapo Korean BBQ: $1,131

• The Keg: $1,045

• Tim Hortons: $954

• Score on King: $924

• Duke of Cornwall: $755

• Congee Queen: $710

• Pizza Pizza: $681

• Barberian’s Steak House: $599

• Cagney’s Steakhouse: $589

• The Press Gang Restaurant: $569

• Pizza Nova: $552

• Gui Gui: $536

• Nortenos Taquiera: $530

• Stock Bar: $523

• Diana’s Oyster Bar & Grill: $505

• Lot 66 Restaurant: $497

• Piano Piano: $474

• 3 Bears Brewery and Restaurant: $453

• Durty Nelly’s Irish Pub: $429

• Niche Lounge: $409

• 28 On The Lake: $408

• The Auld Spot Pub: $343

• Just a Bite: $330

• Subway $321

• Clock Tower Inn: $318

• McDonalds: $302

• Lone Star Texas Grill: $291

• Beer Store: $281

• Cactus Club Cafe: $272

• Armando’s Pizza: $264

• Uber Eats: $260

• The Grand Pizzeria and Bar: $247

• College Street Mercatto: $231

• Tim Hortons: $230

• Shibui Sushi Japanese Eatery: $227

• Bench Brewing Company: $224

• Deville Dinerbar: $220

• Garden Grille Restaurant: $220

• Gatherings Restobar: $220

• Palomino Smokehouse: $216

• The Bracebridge Barrelhouse: $206

Hotels:

• Niagara Mariott On the Falls: $4,781

• Fairmont Chateau Laurier: $1,960

• Hilton Niagara Falls/Fallsview: $1,344

• Holiday Inn: $1,054

• Sofitel Montreal Golden Mile: $971

• Hilton Honors: $687

• Hilton Garden Inn: $590

• Niagara Fallsview Marriott: $451

• Sandman Hotel Group: $379

• Holiday Inn Express & Suites: $275

• Fairmont Palliser: $274

Rogers Centre:

• Rogers Centre, Toronto Blue Jays (filed under “meetings hosted”: $6,970

• Rogers Centre, (for “suite rental” and food and beverages): $3,668

Bottom line: Cho may have been sent back to the dugout — but with tensions rising within the PC caucus, Opposition rivals not willing to let this go quietly, and more reporters digging into receipts — Ford’s expense headache looks like it’s going into extra innings.

SHUFFLE UP

Cho isn’t the only weekend Cabinet exit: NEIL LUMSDEN, Sport Minister and Hamilton East-Stoney Creek rep, is calling it quits, something that’s been expected for some time. Lumsden has been dealing with family health issues.

Attorney General DOUG DOWNEY is handling Tourism and Sport in the meantime — dousing gasoline on chatter that the hotly anticipated summer cabinet shuffle could come sooner than later.

One thing factoring into the Premier’s shuffle plans could be the Integrity Commissioner’s investigation into the Skills Development Fund and Labour Minister DAVID PICCINI. There’s no way to know what’s in the report until it’s out, but it wouldn’t be the first time Ford has been forced to shake-up his front bench after an IC report (Greenbelt, anyone?). Sun columnist Brian Lilley has our favourite parlour game: who’s in and who’s out.

SCOOP — Chief out, too: CREED ATKINSON, chief of staff at Tourism since 2024, and before that, senior SolGen staffer since 2020, has left the building. Atkinson will be replaced by Cho’s deputy chief LINTON TAYLOR.

Hat trick: Lumsden’s departure also triggers a byelection. His actual resignation date (August 4), suggests the PCs could call Hamilton East-Stoney Creek along with York-Simcoe and Scarborough Southwest on August 5, the last day to call the latter. That would make E-Day September 3.

HAPPENING TODAY

DOUG FORD’S MONDAY — 10:30 a.m.: The Premier is up in Toronto again with Natural Resources Minister MIKE HARRIS and Emergency Preparedness Minister JILL DUNLOP.

9:30 a.m.: Environment Minister TODD McCARTHY is in Bowmanville.

10 a.m.: Liberal interim leader JOHN FRASER is in the Media Studio to talk about hotel-gate. Spoiler alert: On Friday, Fraser told reporters Cho’s resignation still leaves questions and said other PCs who have billed five-figures for hotels should also step down.

5:30 p.m.: Liberal leadership contender LEE FAIRCLOUGH is headlining a meet and greet at Edelweiss Tavern in Kitchener.

CLIPPINGS

— WILDFIRE WATCH: “U.S. President DONALD TRUMP’s attacks on Canada over wildfire smoke spreading across the border are “unacceptable,” Premier DOUG FORD said Saturday” as he toured Thunder Bay (he also did a hit with ABC south of the border). Ford, whose government has faced criticism for its wildfire response, especially from First Nations, said it was a “miracle” nobody had died. The government has also expanded its emergency messaging system.

— SUMMER OF STAN II: Much ink is being spilled on STAN CHO’s hotel imbroglio. As the Globe’s Robyn Urback writes: “The DOUG FORD of old would have never tolerated these sorts of indulgences…But things change when you’ve spent eight years getting everything you want, with only the most anemic of opposition in the legislature. Animals with no natural predators become flabby and complacent. They over-indulge. They buy private jets. They expense hotel rooms. They change freedom-of-information request rules so they are less accountable to the public.” Read on.

Meanwhile, one former ERNIE EVES-era Tory cabinet minister shared some topical advice they received back in the day: “Rule number one: If you can’t eat it, drink it or smoke it in one session, then it’s a bribe. Rule number two: What does this look like on the front page of the Toronto Star tomorrow?”

— BAINS ON PLANES: After coming off a bit wishy-washy re: his stance on the province’s plans to expand Toronto’s Billy Bishop island airport, Liberal leadership contender NAVDEEP BAINS is saying, er, something: “With the consultations wrapping up this week, I want to be direct: any path to modernizing the airport needs to involve its surrounding communities. This Conservative government’s plan is a failure.” That’s not a hard “no” to any expansion — just to Ford’s version. Bains has said he’s waiting for the feds consultation results to seriously weigh in. His rivals, like MPP LEE FAIRCLOUGH, have been more blunt in opposing those plans.

Also in Liberal land: TOM ALLISON, a veteran of Liberal campaign war rooms, held forth on the Culture Lab podcast, saying that the most important thing for a leadership contender comes down to one simple thing: “money.”

“It’s usually the case that the top spender wins these leadership contests.” That would be Bains, who’s making it rain to the tune of $300K-plus.