oNTARIO: 1)(Update) ‘The people don’t want it,’ Ford says about decision to sell jet days after purchase; 2)(Update) Ford says Ontario has sold controversial private jet at no loss; 3)Province funds Barrie police-led push for early youth crime intervention

1)(Update) ‘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, 2026

Taxpayers flooded Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s cellphone over the weekend with complaints about the province’s purchase of a $29-million jet to fly him around the province, he said Monday.

By Sunday morning, he had acquiesced to their demands and reversed the decision.

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

“The people don’t want it, that’s fine with me,” the premier said Monday in Ottawa, where he travelled for an unrelated event.

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.”

When he backed down just 48 hours later, Ford said he heard that now was not the right time for the expense of a government plane.

He said provincial officials are working with Bombardier to sell the plane, which he said the province took possession of last week.

“They’re going to work an agreement out because we haven’t touched the plane, so it should be worth the same,” he said.

Ford made it clear he was miffed about media coverage of the purchase, saying he was under more scrutiny than the prime minister and every other premier in the country.

He pointed to the federal government’s recent $753-million purchase of six new Global 6500 jets from Bombardier that will be used to transport government officials and foreign dignitaries, as well as for evacuations, humanitarian missions and disaster relief, among other things.

“We have to get around,” Ford said. “I have to go to the U.S. more. I have to head to Utah to meet the governors. I have to head to South Carolina to meet with the southeastern governors. It’s part of the job.”

Ford noted that Quebec bought two new Challenger 650s and one used jet — the same model as the used one Ontario just bought — for $107 million.

“When I do it, I guess there’s a double standard,” Ford said.

He said the plane would have been used for other purposes, not just to ferry him around. Ford also said he’s saved taxpayers plenty of money over the years by travelling on chartered flights rather than the King Air, a smaller plane already owned by the Ontario government.

“I’ve saved millions by not flying the King Air and so on, so forth,” Ford said.

“I’m the only — and I never brought this up, but since I’m getting hammered about the money, I’m the only premier or MPP — for their MPP expenses, which I don’t begrudge, everyone needs to have expenses — I have expensed zero. Think of that. Zero for eight years. I pay for it out of my own pocket.”

Ford was not in question period Monday, but in response to Opposition questions about the plane, government house leader Steve Clark said “no government is perfect.”

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

“That shows true leadership,” he said.

After question period, opposition leaders didn’t mince words.

“A mistake is: I parked in the wrong parking spot,” said New Democrat Leader Marit Stiles. “It is not: I bought a $30-million luxury jet, and I put it in the budget, and a whole bunch of people approved it.”

Interim Liberal leader John Fraser said the plane fiasco pokes holes in Ford’s carefully crafted image.

“The premier’s personal preference to have his own private luxury jet is really speaking more about who he really is,” Fraser said.

“People can see through that veneer of an act, which is, ‘I’m a man of the people.’ If he was a man of the people, he’d know that people are struggling to buy a bag of milk or a loaf of bread, or put their kids through school, which he’s made harder by breaking OSAP. It is so disconnected from the reality of Ontarians’ everyday lives. It says everything, everything you need to know about Doug Ford.”

Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said it’s “pathetic” that the premier put himself ahead of the people of Ontario.

“I don’t even understand why he would not understand the outrage that he would be wasting people’s tax dollars on a private luxury jet,” he said.

2)(Update) Ford says Ontario has sold controversial private jet at no loss

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Liam Casey and Allison Jones, April 22, 2026.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford speaks with reporters before attending an event in Ottawa on April 20, 2026

Ontario has sold a recently purchased used private jet for the same $28.9 million price it paid, Premier Doug Ford said Wednesday.

Ford’s office announced the purchase of the used 2016 Bombardier Challenger 650 jet on Friday and by Sunday, the premier had agreed to sell it after blowback from the public.

“We gave it back to Bombardier for the exact same price, no one lost any money,” Ford said at a conference held by The Globe and Mail. His office confirmed the sale price of $28.9 million later on Wednesday morning.

Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy said he was “not aware that we’re out any money.”

He said the province will disclose documents about the purchase and sale of the plane “in the normal course of action.”

Bombardier confirmed it purchased the plane back from the province, but declined to answer questions about the deal.

“Bombardier cannot go into details about customer contracts due to our confidentiality policy,” said Louise Solomita, a spokesperson for the company.

The province took possession of the plane last week, news that the Toronto Star broke on Friday and that was then confirmed by the premier’s office.

The office said Ford needed the plane because Ontario is vast, and he also needed something more secure in order to travel to the United States in his ongoing fight against President Donald Trump’s trade war.

On Wednesday, Ford said the province did not take possession of the plane, and that Bombardier has it.

Ford apologized for how the transaction went down, saying he should have told taxpayers in advance and made the case as to why he needed the plane. But he did not apologize for buying it.

He said he still felt it was the right decision to buy the plane, but he decided to reverse course after hearing from people over the weekend.

The premier also said it’s very difficult to travel in northern Ontario while flying in single-propeller planes. Ford has spoken often about his intense fear of flying.

The purchase last week set off a storm of anger among taxpayers, which included a deluge of calls and messages to Ford’s cellphone.

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

The premier made it clear he was miffed about media coverage of the purchase, saying he is under more scrutiny than the prime minister and every other premier in the country.

Ford said cabinet signed off on the purchase earlier this year and the plane would have been used for other government purposes, not just to ferry him around.

On Tuesday, New Democrat Leader Marit Stiles wrote to auditor general Shelley Spence asking for an investigation into the purchase and sale of the plane.

“There are serious and growing concerns about the financial stewardship, transparency, and overall value for money associated with this transaction,” Stiles wrote.

“Ontarians deserve a clear and independent accounting of how public funds have been used in this matter.”

Interim Liberal leader John Fraser said Ford owns the decision to buy the jet and that decision shows “he’s out of touch.”

“The premier bought a luxury jet. He owns that. It’s never going away, it’s part of his legacy,” Fraser said.

“We’re half a trillion dollars in debt and the premier said, ‘It’s OK, I want to buy a private jet.’ And you know what? All the penguins lined up — they can’t fly though — all the penguins lined up and said, ‘Yes sir, yes sir.’ I guess he’s the king penguin.”

3)Province funds Barrie police-led push for early youth crime intervention

Courtesy Barrie360.com

By Julius Hern, April 18, 2026

Barrie Police is expanding its role in youth crime intervention, using provincial funding for programs aimed at preventing violent offences before they occur.

Through Project Bright Futures, the service plans to help establish recreational and art-based programming along with mental health counseling supports for vulnerable youth who have experienced victimization or harm before becoming involved in the justice system.

Funding for the project comes from the $5 million provincial Civil Remedies Grant, which will provide $200,000 over two years. The province says the funding is intended to reinvest proceeds of crime into initiatives that support victims and improve community safety.

“The challenge we face in this city is no different than any other city in Ontario,” Barrie Police Chief Rich Johnston said. “Crime does exist, and how we respond to it as a community—with community partners, with our government—matters.”

The John Howard Society, Salvation Army, and CFS Counselling and Wellbeing are involved and will be equipped with crisis intervention and behavioural management training. Police say the partnerships allow community organizations to deliver frontline supports, while the service helps measure program impact.

Johnston says police data shows that 65 per cent of youth charged have had at least five previous touchpoints with officers.

The John Howard Society, specifically, will use its funding for a gender-based violence program that “focuses on prevention, intervention, and reintegration.” The organization works with youth aged 14 to 24 and men who have been involved in violent relationships.

“The work that [the John Howard Society] does in Simcoe and Muskoka is life-changing for individuals and for families, said Attorney General Doug Downey, who is also the MPP representing Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte. “To support that is clearly the way forward.”

Police believe that earlier intervention through community programs can help prevent and reduce crime in the future.

“We will always enforce the law,” Johnston says. “But if we’re able to influence the reduction of victimization, that’s what we’re all after.”