Restore Faith That Democracy Can Deliver

The case

Why this, why now

Trust in government here has been sliding for years, and the public is not wrong to feel it. The big calls get made in the Premier's office and handed down, with the Legislature treated as an audience and ministers as spokespeople. Meanwhile, Cabinet is the biggest it has ever been, while the Legislature enjoys longer holidays and shorter sessions at the taxpayer's expense.

When people stop believing their government is honest, capable, or really theirs, they stop believing democracy can deliver anything at all. That kind of cynicism does real damage, and it has been earned.

This section earns trust back the hard way, by giving power away on purpose. A smaller cabinet and a Legislature that actually legislates. Open data and live performance reporting in place of symbolic transparency. Hiring and promotion on merit, and agencies that answer to rules rather than favours. Decisions you can see, power you can hold to account, and competence that gets rewarded.

The plan

What we'll do

Restore Pride In Our Democracy6 commitments · +$15M to +$40M ↓

Make Ontario's elected institutions actually work: MPPs who legislate, ministers who decide, voters whose choices reflect their preferences, and a government held to account for what it delivers. Smaller cabinet, stronger Legislature, more electoral choice.

Strike a non-partisan electoral reform commission. Report within one year on options to make Ontario's voting system fairer and more representative, including models, transition plans, and implementation, guided by two principles: that every vote counts, and that everyone keeps local representation.

Empower ministers and MPPs to do great work and be accountable for it. Cut cabinet to no more than 15 ministers, reduce the size and gatekeeping role of the Premier's Office, and restore real authority and accountability to ministers and the Legislature. Encourage serious private members' legislation, stronger committee work, and better scrutiny of spending, appointments, and public agencies.

Allow municipalities to choose alternative electoral systems. Open the door to ranked ballots and other voting models that improve representation, accountability, and voter choice.

Let Toronto and Ottawa legalize municipal political parties if they choose. Give Canada's largest Ontario city and the national capital the option to organize local politics more transparently, with clear rules for registration, donations, spending, disclosure, and affiliation.

Negotiate a Toronto charter city agreement. Allow Toronto to negotiate expanded powers over housing, transit, local taxation, infrastructure, land use, public safety, and service delivery, with clear rules for accountability and fiscal responsibility.

Give Elections Ontario oversight of party nomination contests. Ensure fair rules, transparent procedures, and voter participation limited to those eligible to vote in Canada and young Ontarians of pre-voting age.

Fight Corruption With Transparency7 commitments · ($60M) to ($120M) ↓

Make public spending and decision-making visible by default. Restore FOI rights, publish data, and replace symbolic transparency with the kind that actually informs voters.

Restore Freedom of Information rights and reverse recent limits. Extend Freedom of Information requests to records from political offices where appropriate, shorten timelines, reduce procedural barriers, and shift toward open-by-default transparency.

Adopt a default-to-open public data model. Proactively publish major public-interest datasets in machine-readable formats with regular updates, APIs where appropriate, and clear documentation.

Publish all major grants, subsidies, and business-support payments. Include recipient name, amount, purpose, selection criteria, approval date, program stream, expected outcomes, and results where available.

Create public dashboards for major services and systems. Track healthcare wait times, diagnostic access, school outcomes, infrastructure projects, procurement, transit performance, court delays, environmental compliance, and energy-system performance.

Raise the Sunshine List threshold to $300,000 and index it to inflation. Replace broad low-value disclosure with stronger transparency on senior executive compensation, contracts, appointments, grants, subsidies, and organizational spending.

Let the Auditor General review major purchases before the money is spent. Give the Auditor General's office a mandate to vet large procurements and investments before they are committed, not only after, so wasteful spending can be caught and stopped while it can still be prevented.

Make open and transparent procurement the default for municipal contracts. Set clear thresholds, require public reporting, and add stronger safeguards against unfair or politically connected awards.

Build a High-Performance Public Sector6 commitments · $0 to $0 ↓

Pay senior leaders for results, hire on merit, and give technical agencies the independence they need. Treat the public service as a profession, not a patronage system.

Build a public sector talent and expertise strategy. Allow competitive, results-based compensation for senior leaders, paired with stronger independence, clearer mandates, performance expectations, and public accountability.

Restore merit-based hiring and promotion across the public sector. Require transparent, job-relevant criteria based on qualifications, competence, experience, and performance, while limiting arbitrary credential barriers or opaque screening.

Professionalize appointments and agency governance. Publish clearer qualifications, reduce partisan patronage, improve board expertise, and give technical agencies the independence to deliver against their mandates.

Strengthen union democracy and member accountability. Ensure workers in provincially regulated workplaces have access to bargaining information, fair ratification and strike-vote processes, transparent representation rights, and timely Labour Relations Board remedies.

Set practical in-person work standards for the public sector. Require in-office work where it genuinely improves service delivery, training, collaboration, or supervision. Avoid performative return-to-office mandates that don't deliver outcomes.

Approach collective bargaining with respect for workers and their representatives. Seek durable agreements that improve compensation, staffing, training, workplace safety, flexibility, and service outcomes.

What it costs

The fiscal picture

Goal	Lower	Upper
Total — Restore Faith That Democracy Can Deliver	($45M)	($80M)
Restore Pride In Our Democracy	+$15M	+$40M
Fight Corruption With Transparency	($60M)	($120M)
Build a High-Performance Public Sector	$0	$0

Net budgetary impact over the Ontario Budget 2026 baseline. Negative numbers represent net new provincial spending; positive numbers represent net savings or revenue.

Financial assumptions — how every number was derived Line-by-line derivations for each estimate ↓

Detail on how each cost or savings estimate was derived. All figures represent net budgetary impact over the Ontario Budget 2026 baseline.

Restore Pride In Our Democracy · +$15M to +$40M

Idea	Lower	Upper	How it was estimated
Strike a non-partisan electoral reform commission.	($5M)	($10M)	The 2007 Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform cost about $5M. The $5-10M covers a one-year commission with research staff, public consultation, and a final report.
Empower ministers and MPPs to do great work and be accountable for it.	+$20M	+$50M	Cutting cabinet from ~30 ministers to 15 saves roughly $2-3M each in salary, staff, and offices, for $20-50M/yr. Strengthening the Legislature and reducing the Premier's Office role happen within existing budgets.
Allow municipalities to choose alternative electoral systems.	$0	$0	Gives municipalities the legal option; they cover the cost of carrying it out. No provincial cost.
Let Toronto and Ottawa legalize municipal political parties if they choose.	$0	$0	Gives Toronto and Ottawa the legal option. No provincial cost.
Negotiate a Toronto charter city agreement.	$0	$0	Only the cost of negotiating between governments; provincial spending is unchanged from today's Toronto arrangements.
Give Elections Ontario oversight of party nomination contests.	$0	$0	Elections Ontario takes this on within its current mandate and budget; the small administrative cost is covered by existing operations.

Fight Corruption With Transparency · ($60M) to ($120M)

Idea	Lower	Upper	How it was estimated
Restore Freedom of Information rights and reverse recent limits.	$0	$0	More staff for FOI requests and shorter timelines, covered by the Information and Privacy Commissioner and ministries within current budgets by reprioritizing.
Adopt a default-to-open public data model.	($30M)	($50M)	Building and running the systems, documentation, and security reviews to publish major datasets costs $30-50M/yr, expanding the existing Open Data Ontario program.
Publish all major grants, subsidies, and business-support payments.	($10M)	($20M)	Systems to publish grant and subsidy data cost $10-20M/yr. Grants Ontario already tracks this but does not fully publish it; this closes that gap.
Create public dashboards for major services and systems.	($20M)	($50M)	Public dashboards across more than 10 service areas cost $20-50M/yr to run. Some already exist, such as ER wait times and the Ontario Health Network waitlist, but coverage is uneven.
Raise the Sunshine List threshold to $300,000 and index it to inflation.	$0	$0	Changing the threshold costs almost nothing. It refocuses attention on senior compensation rather than rank-and-file public servants whose pay has been overtaken by inflation.
Let the Auditor General review major purchases before the money is spent.	$0	$0	Carried out within the existing Auditor General and Financial Accountability Office budgets, and expected to save more than it costs by catching wasteful purchases before the money is committed.
Make open and transparent procurement the default for municipal contracts.	$0	$0	The province sets the standards and reporting rules; municipalities and other public bodies cover the cost of meeting them.

Build a High-Performance Public Sector · $0 to $0

Idea	Lower	Upper	How it was estimated
Build a public sector talent and expertise strategy.	$0	$0	Following Singapore's approach, competitive pay for top leaders comes from the existing compensation budget paired with mid-level efficiencies, a reallocation rather than new spending.
Restore merit-based hiring and promotion across the public sector.	$0	$0	A hiring and promotion policy change within existing systems. No added cost.
Professionalize appointments and agency governance.	$0	$0	The Public Appointments Secretariat handles this as a process change; the modest cost of stronger selection is covered within existing operating budgets.
Strengthen union democracy and member accountability.	$0	$0	Updates the Labour Relations Act, carried out within the existing capacity of the Ontario Labour Relations Board.
Set practical in-person work standards for the public sector.	$0	$0	An operational policy with no added cost. Its effects on office space and productivity depend on how it is carried out.
Approach collective bargaining with respect for workers and their representatives.	$0	$0	Sets the approach to negotiations; cost depends on the terms of the agreements reached.

The goals

Restore Pride In Our Democracy

Fight Corruption With Transparency

Build a High-Performance Public Sector

Why this, why now

What we'll do

The fiscal picture

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