Tomorrow (Sunday 29 September 2024) Dawn Gallagher Murphy, Progressive Conservative MPP for Newmarket-Aurora, will be holding her third taxpayer-funded BBQ from 2pm-4pm at the Riverwalk Commons in Downtown Newmarket.

She says it is “free” but, in reality, we all pay for it.

Her first “Annual BBQ” on 16 October 2022 cost taxpayers $11,160. Her second BBQ on 22 October 2023 cost us $11,495. The costs come out of Gallagher Murphy’s “Office Operations” budget. 

She says it is an "absolutely appropriate" use of taxpayers' money and is within the rules.

Public subsidy

Gallagher Murphy - personally selected by Doug Ford as Newmarket-Aurora's PC candidate and ever since a cheerleader for FordNation - will be hoping for a much bigger attendance tomorrow than turned up last year. The event has been pulled forward from October and the weather forecast for tomorrow is sunny and warm.

Newmarket Today’s reporter at last year’s event, the highly regarded Joseph Quigley, originally estimated 200 people attended but the Editor subsequently corrected this figure to 400

“based on information provided by Dawn Gallagher Murphy's constituency office.” 

Even on Gallagher Murphy’s own figures each person attending the free BBQ was getting a public subsidy of $28.73.

Our MPP frequently talks about saving taxpayer dollars and fiscal responsibility but when it comes to managing her own office budget different considerations clearly apply.

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 (Photo right: Last year's BBQ at 3pm - half way through the event.)