Ford said in a statement Sunday that he agrees with the concerns that were raised.<\/p>\n
“Despite the best of intentions, I have heard and agree that now is not the right time for the expense of a government plane,” he said.<\/p>\n
Ford said the province is working with Bombardier “and other partners to sell the plane as quickly as possible.”<\/p>\n
The province had defended the purchase Friday to support the premier’s “extensive travel within Ontario,” across Canada and even to the United States “to help make the case against President [Donald] Trump’s tariffs.”<\/p>\n
WATCH | The province’s high-flying purchase was confirmed Friday:<\/strong><\/em> Ont. government buys private jet for Doug Ford to use<\/p>\n Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s office says the province bought the jet because of his ‘extensive travel’ within the province and to the United States to ‘make the case’ against U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs. The purchase price of the pre-owned private jet was $28.9 million.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n A government source told CBC News on Friday that the province has been working for several months to buy the Bombardier Challenger 650. They had expected it to be in operation by the end of July.<\/p>\n The plane was purchased directly from Bombardier and was previously owned by someone in South America, the source said. Ontario Provincial Police and Bombardier performed security and mechanical checks on the plane, and no upgrades were needed, according to the province.<\/p>\n The province said Friday that the jet, which was made in Canada in 2016, would have allowed for “more certain, flexible, secure and confidential travel” and not be used for personal travel.<\/p>\n The premier wants to live like a billionaire, just with taxpayers’ money, said interim Ontario Liberal Leader John Fraser in a statement Sunday.<\/p>\n \u201cDoug Ford didn\u2019t see the light. He felt the heat,” said Fraser. \u201cNow, only after intense backlash, he\u2019s scrambling to sell his gravy plane.”<\/p>\n Families in the province are struggling with the cost of groceries and gas, Fraser said in an interview with CBC News.<\/p>\n “It just shows how out of touch the premier is,” he said. “And now we have a private jet sitting in the hangar somewhere.”<\/p>\n The money spent on the jet could have paid for more MRI machines or been put toward hiring more teachers, Fraser said.<\/p>\n He said the sudden decision to sell could mean the jet could be sold at a loss “and sit on the books as a liability for taxpayers for months.”<\/p>\n \u201cHow much is this going to cost Ontarians? We may never know.”<\/p>\n Ford only changed his mind on the jet purchase after “the heat [got] too hot,” said opposition NDP Leader Marit Stiles on social media Sunday.<\/p>\n “Doug Ford is turning the plane around mid-air for an emergency landing because he got caught living like a rockstar on your dime,” she said.<\/p>\n “The premier\u2019s buyer\u2019s remorse isn\u2019t good enough when it\u2019s your money.”<\/p>\n Stiles said the purchase is “outrageous” considering Ford’s recent cuts to OSAP mean a bigger financial burden on students and families who want their shot at post-secondary education.<\/p>\n “Doug Ford just brushed that off like it was just, like, a perk, like a luxury,” she told CBC News at an NDP town hall on Sunday. “Meanwhile, he had bought a private jet for his own use.”<\/p>\n “He’s gotten too used to live in the high life,” she said.<\/p>\n Stiles and Fraser referred to the jet as a “gravy plane” in their statements Friday \u2014 a throwback to the term “gravy train” that was repeatedly used by Ford and his brother Rob Ford when they served as councillor and mayor at Toronto City Hall, respectively.<\/p>\n Ford would have continued to spend taxpayers\u2019 money secretly \u201chad the sale not been leaked, said Ontario Greens Leader Mike Schreiner in a statement Sunday.<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s be honest\u2014the Premier is only selling the jet because he got caught,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Schreiner said Ford should still be held accountable for making the decision in the first place.<\/p>\n “His first instinct is to always put himself and the people around him first,” he said in an interview with CBC News. “I think we need a premier that’s actually going to put everyday people first, especially giving how much people are struggling right now.”<\/p>\n While it\u2019s promising to see the premier taking \u201cOntarians\u2019 outrage\u201d seriously, Schreiner said he\u2019s sick of the Ford\u2019s government using the taxpayers\u2019 dollars \u201clike its own personal piggy bank.\u201d<\/p>\n Ford is making the right decision by backtracking and not billing taxpayers for an “unnecessary luxury,” Canadian Taxpayers Federation director Noah Jarvis told CBC News.<\/p>\n “This is a great win for taxpayers,” he said. “I think a lot of taxpayers viewed that as just gross, especially when our province is going deep, deep, deep into debt.<\/p>\n Ontario’s debt levels are at $485 billion for 2026-2027<\/a>, up from $337 billion when Ford was elected premier. Debt servicing costs alone for Ontario were listed at $17.2 billion\u00a0in this year’s budget<\/a>, which is more than the province is spending on post-secondary education.<\/p>\n Ford’s flip-flop from bragging about not using the premier’s designated plane in 2019 to buying a private jet a few years later, was not well received by Ontarians, said Jarvis.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/timesofnews.b-cdn.net\/timesofnewscdn\/usa\/f81ff7f4_default.jpg\")
<\/p>\nFord ‘felt the heat’ of jet backlash: Liberal leader<\/h2>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/timesofnews.b-cdn.net\/timesofnewscdn\/usa\/15b0aa2a_default.jpg\")
Reversal is ‘a great win for taxpayers’: CTF director<\/h2>\n
![\"Ford](\"https:\/\/timesofnews.b-cdn.net\/timesofnewscdn\/usa\/382e2eb6_default.jpg\")