Ontario: 1)’The people don’t want it,’ Ford says about decision to sell jet;

1)’The people don’t want it,’ Ford says about decision to sell jet days after purchase

Published April 20, 2026

‘The people don’t want it,’ Ford says about decision to sell jet days after purchase

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Allison Jones and Liam Casey, April 20, 2025

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he listened to the taxpayers who told him over the weekend he needed to reverse his decision to buy a used $29-million private jet for his use.

Ford says he should have made the case to the public as to why he needed a jet before buying it.

Meanwhile, members of his Progressive Conservative government hailed his decision to reverse course, saying it shows leadership.

Ford’s office confirmed Friday the purchase of a used 2016 Bombardier Challenger 650 jet, saying the premier needed it for travel throughout the vast province as well as to the United States.

Criticism from across the political spectrum was swift, with opposition parties dubbing the aircraft the “gravy plane.”

Ford backed down just 48 hours later, saying he has heard now is not the right time for the expense of a government plane.

‘The people don’t want it, that’s fine with me,” Ford told reporters in Ottawa on Monday.

Ford was not in question period, but in response to Opposition questions about the plane, government house leader Steve Clark said “no government is perfect,” and it shows leadership that Ford recognized the decision needs to be changed.

Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy said it takes “guts” to make decisions like that.

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press
By Liam Casey, April 17, 2026

Ontario taxpayers are footing the bill for a $29-million private jet for Premier Doug Ford’s use, a purchase opposition leaders say is a waste of money.

The premier’s office said the province bought a used 2016 Bombardier Challenger 650 jet for $28.9 million. It will operate out of Toronto’s Pearson International Airport.
The plane is expected to be operational by the end of July, Ford’s office said.

“As part of the job of being premier of Ontario, there is extensive travel within Ontario, a province twice the land mass of Texas,” Ford’s office wrote in a statement. 
“This is in addition to travel across Canada for Council of the Federation and first ministers’ meetings, which have increased in frequency, as well as travel to the United States to help make the case against President Trump’s tariffs.”

Ford’s office said the government purchased the plane to “support more certain, flexible, secure and confidential travel.”

The office noted the jet is cheaper than the $107 million Quebec taxpayers paid for two new Challenger jets and one used one.

Opposition parties slammed the purchase, which comes during an extended affordability crisis.
“At a time when people can’t afford to buy groceries or gas, Doug Ford is buying himself a private jet,” Fraser said. 

“It doesn’t get much more out of touch than that, and I guess the gravy train just wasn’t enough, now he’s got to get a gravy plane.”‘

The province should be spending that money elsewhere, such as in classrooms, said New Democrat Leader Marit Stiles. 

“Ford ran on a promise to stop the gravy train only to spend millions of taxpayer dollars on his gravy plane,” she said. 
“This is ridiculous.”

In 2019, Ford brushed off the idea of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a plane. Instead, he wanted a customized van to roam the province in, which led to its own controversy.

Former New Democrat Taras Natyshak needled Ford over the van, which he dubbed a “souped-up man cave on wheels” and the “pleasure wagon.”

“Can the premier explain how equipping a van with a mini fridge, a 32-inch television with a Blu-ray player and a leather power-reclining sofa is a cost-cutting measure for the taxpayers of Ontario?” Natyshak asked Ford during question period on Feb. 27, 2019.

“Through you, Mr. Speaker, I know it’s important to the opposition to talk about a van, but let me tell you something about that,” Ford responded.

“Mr. Speaker, I requested a used van that is one-third the cost of the regular suburban. I’m the only premier in history that refuses to use the premier’s plane, the King Air, that costs the taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars. I prefer to drive around and talk to the people about things that matter.”
Ford has chartered flights to the United States in the past when on trips to promote Ontario and he often flies within the province on smaller OPP planes.

The premier is a notoriously fickle flyer with an intense fear of air travel. 
Ford has said that’s the reason he has yet to visit the First Nations near Ontario’s mineral-rich Ring of Fire region. 

Webequie First Nation and Marten Falls First Nation have both partnered with the province on building a road to a proposed mining area in the Ring of Fire that will also connect the fly-in communities to the provincial highway system farther south.

Ford spoke about his flying fears at several press conferences with those First Nations, explaining his inability to visit was partially due to his concerns about prop planes.
“You hit wind turbulence, and you’re — at least my heart — it just drops, and you drop 100 feet, and you’re holding on for dear life,” he said in late October.

“And why do we have to do single prop? Because jets can’t fly in.”
A month later, Ford said of single-propeller planes: “I’m terrified when I go on those things.”