Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative Party spent nearly $3,000 at two luxury all-inclusive resorts in Jamaica and is refusing to explain who benefited from the spending or what taxpayers and donors paid for.

According to reporting by The Trillium, the Ontario PC Party’s 2023 financial statement disclosed a $1,971.67 payment to the Royalton Negril Hotel and another $1,000.05 payment listed for the “Ocean Edey Bay Hotel.”

The latter appears to refer to Ocean Eden Bay, an adults-only, five-star all-inclusive resort on Jamaica’s northern coast.

Both expenses were reported to Elections Ontario under “Other — Office & Administration,” with no explanation of what was purchased or who incurred the expenses. The party would not answer The Trillium’s questions about the payments. 

A PC Party spokesperson offered only a limited explanation for the Royalton Negril expense, saying it “was not personal in nature, nor was it related to a vacation.”

The party did not explain what it was for.

The questions matter because the Ontario PC Party is not funded exclusively by private donors. In 2023, nearly half of its income came from the taxpayer-funded per-vote subsidy, according to The Trillium. Political donations are also subsidized through provincial tax credits. 

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The Jamaican resort revelations come as Ford’s government is already facing scrutiny over spending by PC MPPs.

Progressive Conservative politicians have claimed more than $120,000 for overnight accommodations in Toronto during the past three years, including claims by politicians whose ridings are within commuting distance of Queen’s Park. Ford has since promised that inappropriate expenses will be repaid “every penny.” 

Now there’s another question for Ford’s PCs: what exactly was the party doing at five-star, all-inclusive Jamaican resorts with money partly supplied by Ontario taxpayers?

Until the party provides the receipts and explains who benefited from the spending, Ontarians are being asked to take its word for it.

At PayTheMoneyBack.com, we’re tracking how Ontario politicians and political organizations spend public money, and demanding answers when taxpayers are left holding the bill.