Ontario Government (Conservative majority), 2025-29

[dapaterson]

IMHO, that’s the same thinking that turned 24 Sussex into the country’s largest crack house.

I’m of the opinion that the government’s executives of large land masses may need air transport not governed by the whims and schedules of commercial airlines.

If I see a premier or minister in cattle class with me while on official business, I’m going to have a very low opinion of the government.

Politicians should have those discussions and debates and move forward. Not do things in shadows then flinch when they're brought to light.

 

[HavokFour]

Strange that people would heavily scrutinize the guy currently in the process of trying to pass legislation entirely for the purpose of protecting himself.

Ford says no one in Canada is scrutinized like he is after backtracking on $28.9M private jet purchase​

Ontario's omnibus budget bill includes retroactive clampdown on premier's cellphone records​

 

[Altair]

Strange that people would heavily scrutinize the guy currently in the process of trying to pass legislation entirely for the purpose of protecting himself.

Ford says no one in Canada is scrutinized like he is after backtracking on $28.9M private jet purchase​

Ontario's omnibus budget bill includes retroactive clampdown on premier's cellphone records​

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-private-jets-9.7170866

So, we asked the Quebec government about the jets Ford was referring to — and whether the Quebec government owns a private plane for the premier’s travel needs.

There is no government plane for the premier’s exclusive travel, according to a spokesperson for the premier’s office. They said the jets Ford was referring to are used for medical transport.

The medical jets are highly specialized aircraft designed to transport patients living in remote communities to medical facilities.

A 2025 call for tenders detailed the specifications the Quebec government had for one of its new private jets: it says the plane must be modified to include a medical ramp and other specialized medical equipment

In 2024, a Quebec coroner found that the province had an insufficient number of medical aircraft.

Stay classy Doug Ford.

 

[lenaitch]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-private-jets-9.7170866

Stay classy Doug Ford.

And Ornge (Ontario's air ambulance service) is planning to or already purchased two Pilatus PC-24 aircraft. An aircraft configured as an air ambulance would make a piss poor VIP transport.

 

[daftandbarmy]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-private-jets-9.7170866

Stay classy Doug Ford.

Meanwhile, in the rest of Canada...

We asked Canada's premiers if they fly private. Here's what they said​

The controversy has raised questions about how often Canada's leaders fly on private aircraft, whether rented or owned.

CBC News reached out to offices of the premiers from coast to coast to see how the provinces and territories book air travel. Most said the premiers use primarily commercial flights for official business, with private or chartered flights used only in special circumstances.

Given the majority of premiers' work-related travel would be within their own province, it would be hard for them to justify flying private, said Lori Turnbull, a political science professor at Dalhousie University.

"You're going to do travel around the country, you're going to go to First Ministers meetings and things like that ... but there's going to be a limit to how much that actually happens," she said.

It's also just a bad look politically, she added.

"There's a sense that people expect, especially in hard times, for the premier to do things as cheaply as possible," she said.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/premiers-private-flights-commercial-9.7171284

 

[GR66]

Meanwhile, in the rest of Canada...

We asked Canada's premiers if they fly private. Here's what they said​

The controversy has raised questions about how often Canada's leaders fly on private aircraft, whether rented or owned.

CBC News reached out to offices of the premiers from coast to coast to see how the provinces and territories book air travel. Most said the premiers use primarily commercial flights for official business, with private or chartered flights used only in special circumstances.

Given the majority of premiers' work-related travel would be within their own province, it would be hard for them to justify flying private, said Lori Turnbull, a political science professor at Dalhousie University.

"You're going to do travel around the country, you're going to go to First Ministers meetings and things like that ... but there's going to be a limit to how much that actually happens," she said.

It's also just a bad look politically, she added.

"There's a sense that people expect, especially in hard times, for the premier to do things as cheaply as possible," she said.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/premiers-private-flights-commercial-9.7171284

Not defending Ford and really can't speak to the relative cost effectiveness of a government owned aircraft vs commercial flight but would just like to note that Ontario is larger than France and Spain combined or double the size of Japan. The Premier does also travel outside the country to promote trade as well.

Does he travel enough to places without convenient commercial connections often enough to justify the purchase a dedicated aircraft? Would leasing one when required be cheaper?

The timing and optics on this issue however were just plain bad.

 

[McG]

Given the majority of premiers' work-related travel would be within their own province, it would be hard for them to justify flying private, said Lori Turnbull, a political science professor at Dalhousie University.

I think most Premiers could make good use of a government helicopter. Fixed wing for Ontario would really depend on how much time he spends in the province’s north and if the aircraft can access the airfields through that part of the province.

 

[HavokFour]

I think most Premiers could make good use of a government helicopter. Fixed wing for Ontario would really depend on how much time he spends in the province’s north and if the aircraft can access the airfields through that part of the province.

The private jet he wanted to purchase (Bombardier 650 Challenger) apparently can only land on a handful of runways in the province.

$28.9M private jet province bought, plans to sell, could have used only 10% of Ontario airports​

Those limitations raise questions about how the private jet would have helped the premier travel around northern Ontario — one of his justifications for needing the jet — and how the plane would have fulfilled other government uses Ford described at Queen's Park on Tuesday.

"Sending firefighters up north to fight wildfires, or if we had floods, or if we had to bring people when we evacuate First Nations communities and we had to get them down and we would do that," Ford said.

"Right now we're chartering planes, and when you evacuate, you want to evacuate the elder, the children. I know it's small, but if you can take two or three trips."

 

[The Bread Guy]

The private jet he wanted to purchase (Bombardier 650 Challenger) apparently can only land on a handful of runways in the province.

$28.9M private jet province bought, plans to sell, could have used only 10% of Ontario airports​

I didn't know it was this few airports, but yeah, not many (mostly) Ontario-owned-and-run airports at remote FNs don't have long enough runways to take executive-scale jets.

 

[Altair]

For the record, I think the premiers of Quebec, BC, Ontario and Alberta should have planes for their own use.

This nickle and diming is exactly what lead to 24 Sussex becoming a national embarrassment.

Ontario has an economy the size of Poland, it can afford 30m to buy a jet for the premier.

 

[Navy_Pete]

Not defending Ford and really can't speak to the relative cost effectiveness of a government owned aircraft vs commercial flight but would just like to note that Ontario is larger than France and Spain combined or double the size of Japan. The Premier does also travel outside the country to promote trade as well.

Does he travel enough to places without convenient commercial connections often enough to justify the purchase a dedicated aircraft? Would leasing one when required be cheaper?

The timing and optics on this issue however were just plain bad.

One thing that was pointed out is that due to the size of it, that jet could only land in 19 of the 179 airports in Ontario, and those are ones that are already well serviced.

So if they actually wanted a jet to travel Ontario and see the communities, they should have gone with something smaller that could land at a lot more small regional airports.

 

[GR66]

The private jet he wanted to purchase (Bombardier 650 Challenger) apparently can only land on a handful of runways in the province.

$28.9M private jet province bought, plans to sell, could have used only 10% of Ontario airports​

Twin Otter for the win!