EXCLUSIVE: Premier Doug Ford’s 2018 mandate letters demanded savings by ‘year two’
Ontario Premier Doug Ford took over the reins of the provincial government in 2018, he was determined to expedite a central campaign promise: make government more efficient by shaving four cents of every dollar spent by Queen’s Park.Instead, the Progressive Conservative government’s first budget, delivered by then-finance minister Vic Fedeli in 2019, triggered a firestorm of controversy over the planned cuts in spending and likely led to Fedeli’s removal from the position.Fedeli’s instructions, however, came directly from Premier Ford who set out a three-year timeline to balance the budget, leading to billions of dollars slashed from the fiscal plan.For the first time, Global News can reveal the financial mandates given to the Minister of Finance, Treasury Board president and all cabinet ministers, instructing them to “identify efficiencies and savings” in their individual ministries.The information comes from mandate letters obtained, exclusively, by Global News.Ford’s instructions to his cabinet ministers in 2018 made it clear that his government intended to usher in a culture change, one that was focused on spending restraint and fiscal responsibility all while maintaining services residents rely on.“As we move ahead with our plan to restore a strong economy and to make life more affordable for the great people of this province, we will begin to do so by eliminating wasteful government spending, cutting red tape and by making government more efficient,” Ford said in his mandate letter addressed to all ministers.“This means reviewing all spending within your Ministry to identify efficiencies, program re-design, and savings that can be implemented over the course of our mandate.”To realize maximum efficiencies on a
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