Doug Ford gives up a gravy plane for his normal clown car

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The instant Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles blasted out the words “gravy plane,” it became obvious that the private jet purchased by Ontario Premier Doug Ford was not long for this province.

It wasn’t simply that the act of spending $28.9-million of taxpayers’ money on a private aircraft for the Premier’s office was hideously off-brand, though that was a major part of it. Mr. Ford and his late brother, Mayor of Toronto Rob Ford, built their entire political brand on being custodians of the public purse; Rob Ford made a public spectacle of cutting up the free memberships handed out to city councillors when he held that job.

The Fords pledged to “stop the gravy train,” to cut the waste. As Ontario Premier, Mr. Ford has boasted about giving his cellphone number out to anyone; about working “for the people.” He shovelled snow for a driver stuck during a snowstorm a few years ago. Against that history, there is probably no single purchase that could destroy his brand so swiftly, so completely, as a private jet.

But a leader of greater conviction, one who genuinely believed he could serve his province more efficiently thanks to the “more certain, flexible, secure and confidential travel” afforded by a private aircraft, as his office said on Friday, would try to weather the contradiction. But Doug Ford is made of Jell-O; even the slightest amount of political pressure or public criticism makes him go all wobbly. That’s why he flip-flops: on COVID-19 policies, on development of the Greenbelt, on threats to use the notwithstanding clause, and, apparently, on buying a 2016 Challenger 650 jet, just days after its purchase was publicly revealed.

Doug Ford to sell private government jet days after purchase was revealed

A case theoretically could be made for a private jet owned and operated by the Premier’s office, though perhaps not one for this specific aircraft, which requires a certain length of runway for landing that might not be available in some remote communities. That case would require comprehensive costing, disclosed to the public, about fees for the occasional renting of a charter compared to the lump sum and ongoing operating costs of purchase, as well as the costs in lost time and productivity when the Premier flies commercial.

Some Canadians will insist that politicians should always be flying commercial, with their knees tucked against their chests in economy like the rest of us, but it should not be automatically controversial for politicians to occasionally enjoy nice things. Working for the public is objectively a tough job, and it can take an extraordinary toll on families when a lot of travel is involved.

We should not be reflexively opposed to measures that make politicians more efficient and comfortable in their work just because it looks like luxury, just as we shouldn’t be reflexively opposed to fixing up the dilapidated home reserved for our Prime Minister because most of us don’t live in 12,000-square-foot mansions. But politicians have to endeavour to actually make that case, complete with costing, for the public to get on board. And even then, the decision to spend public money on jets and mansions is unlikely to ever be popular, which explains why 24 Sussex was inhabited only by mice for the better part of the past decade.

Another Ontario premier attempted to make that case 45 years ago, when the Challenger jet in question was even retrofitted to double as an air ambulance to be called upon in emergencies. But the public didn’t buy it; the $10.6-million price tag ($35-million in today’s dollars) was seen as too high, so Premier Bill Davis swapped the jet out for two waterbombers instead. Mr. Ford did not explain why his office opted for a similar jet four-and-a-half decades later and not, for example, a King Air turboprop plane, which used to be owned by the Ontario government and is more capable of landing in remote Ontario communities. But it’s reasonable to infer that Mr. Ford’s well-documented anxiety about flying informed the decision by his office to purchase a larger, propellerless jet.

So in the end, Ontario gets nothing except for another circus, with the Premier wobbling back from a $28.9-million purchase, and the province ostensibly on the hook for whatever amount is lost in resale. Mr. Ford explained his walk-back on Monday, saying now was “not the time” for a private jet, but also blaming the media for a “double-standard” in its coverage of his plane compared to how it reports on, for example, jets owned by Quebec’s government. He also appeared to justify his decision by citing the pace of his travel, but nevertheless committed to “listen[ing] to the people” about their views on this purchase. So Mr. Ford is giving up his gravy plane, and hopping right back into his provincial clown car. Just another day in Doug Ford’s Ontario.