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The Ontario government has sold a $28.9-million private jet back to Bombardier, less than a week after its purchase spurred public outcry.
Premier Doug Ford made the announcement at an unrelated event Wednesday, which was later confirmed by Bombardier in a statement sent to CBC News.
“We sold the plane for the same price, right back to Bombardier and said ‘OK, you take it back,'” Ford said.
“We gave it back to Bombardier at the exact same price, no one lost anything.”
The decision to sell the used Bombardier Challenger 650 came just days after the jet’s purchase was revealed last Friday, then met with backlash from opposition parties, advocacy groups and the public alike.
Ford had argued the province needed the plane because Ontario is vast, and he also needed something more secure in order to travel to the United States to push back against President Donald Trump’s trade war.
A government source told CBC News that the province had been working for several months to buy the jet. They had expected it to be in operation by the end of July.
Reporter Laura Stone, who was speaking with Ford Wednesday as part of The Globe and Mail’s Intersect Conference in downtown Toronto, asked the premier about a CBC News analysis that showed the jet would only have been able to fly in and out of about 10 per cent of recognized airports in the province.
In response, Ford said that commercial flights get cancelled and you “can’t get to Kenora, you can’t get into Sault Ste. Marie” — though he did not directly address the story, which found the jet could not have used the vast majority of airports in Ontario because their runways are too short.
“Time is money, and that’s what it comes down to,” Ford said. “Getting from point A to point B.”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said his extensive travel schedule was his government’s rationale for buying a $28.9-million private jet. After swift public backlash, the premier said the plane would be sold as quickly as possible.
The jet proved to be fruitful fodder for the province’s opposition parties over the last several days, with critics dubbing it “the gravy plane.”
NDP Leader Marit Stiles questioned the government about its “greedy scheme” during question period at Queen’s Park Monday, noting there was no mention of the jet in last month’s budget.
“At a time when we have teachers who are receiving layoff notices, hospitals cutting nurses, families struggling with gas, with groceries … here you are, obsessed with buying your premier a luxury jet,” Stiles said.
“If there was ever a government more out of touch, I don’t know when. The people of this province are outraged, and rightfully so.”
Stiles also wrote to Ontario Auditor General Shelley Spence this week, requesting a “comprehensive audit and investigation” into the plane’s purchase and sale.
“There are serious and growing concerns about the financial stewardship, transparency, and overall value for money associated with this transaction,” Stiles wrote.
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