Doug Ford did not rise to power as a champagne-sipping man of luxury. He rose to power off the back of a family brand built on resentment of the political class — the insiders, the freeloaders, the entitled crowd riding what Rob Ford memorably called the gravy train.
That was the whole point. The Fords were supposed to be the ones who hated the perks, hated the waste, hated the fancy nonsense that politicians always seem to justify for themselves and deny to everyone else.
And that is why this latest move lands with such force.
Ontario has now confirmed the purchase of a pre-owned 2016 Bombardier Challenger 650 for $28.9 million, a jet the government says is needed to provide the premier with more certain, flexible, secure and confidential travel.
And let’s be honest about what makes this so politically toxic: it is not merely the cost. It is the class signal.
No serious person denies that aircraft can be useful tools for executives or government leaders. A small working plane for getting around a massive province on a tight schedule is one thing. A luxury intercontinental jet is something else entirely.
The Ford government says this purchase is about travel. But a Challenger 650 does not look like fiscal restraint. It looks like a politician who has been in power too long, surrounded by too many people telling him he deserves the lifestyle of the rich and famous.
That is a far cry from the Doug Ford who once boasted, in 2019, that he refused to use the premier’s plane. As reported by CHCH News and highlighted again by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, Ford used to present himself as the rare politician who did not need that kind of pampered treatment.
What changed?
Not the average Ontarian’s finances. Those have only gotten worse. Housing is brutal. Debt is crushing. The cost of living has done real social damage, especially to younger people trying to start families and build anything resembling a middle-class life.
And Ontario is hardly swimming in prosperity. The province’s industrial base has been weakening for years. The auto sector is under pressure. Manufacturing has been hollowed out over decades. Yet somehow, amid all that economic anxiety, the province has found room in the budget for a premier’s luxury aircraft.
That is why the issue cuts deeper than an aviation procurement story. This is about transformation. Doug Ford was elected as a blunt instrument against elite entitlement. But after years in office, he increasingly looks like another politician who has learned to love the comforts of power.
There is also the simple common-sense test. If the purpose were purely practical — quick regional travel, security, efficiency — a smaller working aircraft would be easier to defend. Ontarians can understand the case for a tool. What they are being asked to accept here is a status symbol.
And once governments buy status symbols, taxpayers are expected to suspend all instincts and trust that the thing will never be abused, never become normalized, never be folded into the culture of insiders, handlers, entourages and political vanity. That requires more faith than this government has earned.
Hellbound and Down 