Ontario Premier Doug Ford made the right call selling his private jet. But the fiasco reveals a deeper problem with his handling of taxpayer dollars.
Ford went against his brand
Ford bought a $28.9-million Bombardier Challenger 650 executive jet. Buying a private jet so the premier can fly around in the lap of luxury would be bad from any government. But this comes from Ford, a man who built his political brand portraying himself as a normal guy fighting crooked politicians. Ford used to talk about Liberals who got rich off the back of taxpayers.
"Under this government, there will be zero tolerance for any form of financial scandals and abuse," Ford said in 2018, while criticizing the previous Liberal government. Ford bragged about not using the government's old plane for the premier, which he would sell soon after. But then he bought himself a new one.
The backlash was so hot Ford announced he was selling his new jet two days after the story broke. It might be tempting to give Ford the benefit of the doubt. After all, didn't Ford acknowledge he made a mistake?
But Ford isn't apologizing for buying the jet. Ford's sorry because he didn't try hard enough to convince the people of Ontario that he should buy himself a private jet because he's scared to fly in smaller turboprop planes. This fiasco is part of a larger pattern with Ford. He used to talk about saving money. Now he's burning through it fast.
Gravy train hasn't ended
Take Ontario's political welfare program. Ford promised he would end the per-vote subsidy program, which the Liberal government created back in 2017. The program funnels $12 million to political parties every year to pay for lawn signs and attack ads.
"When I am elected premier, I will stand up for all Ontario taxpayers and eliminate the per-vote subsidy given to political parties in Ontario," Ford told taxpayers back in 2018. "This will save taxpayers millions of dollars each year." It was a clear promise to end the gravy train for political parties when Ford wanted votes from frustrated taxpayers.
But when Ford had the opportunity to end political welfare, he didn't. He chose to extend it instead. His government made the per-vote subsidy permanent in late 2025. The per-vote subsidy will cost taxpayers $12.6 million this year. The political welfare program mostly benefits the Progressive Conservatives, who'll get $5.5 million.
While Ford fattens political parties bank accounts, he's also increasing the pay of Ontario MPPs every year. While MPPs take a big pay raise, Ford is also enrolling them in a new pension plan after they serve for six years.
Smaller cabinet promise broken
Ford also promised his cabinet would be smaller than former premier Kathleen Wynne's 30-minister cabinet. Ford initially swore in a cabinet of 21 ministers, but now has a cabinet of 37. Each cabinet minister comes with another $69,065 taxpayer-funded pay raise. And that doesn't include Ford's 38 parliamentary assistants and their $23,348 raises. The size and cost of the premier's office have ballooned too.
There were 22 staff in Ford's office making more than $100,000 in 2019. That number has more than doubled to 50 in 2025. When the premier is driving the gravy train, it's no wonder Ontario's debt problem is getting worse.
The Ford government ran seven deficits and borrowed $147.5 billion during its eight years in office. Ford's big borrowing drove Ontario's debt interest charges to $17.2 billion this year. That's $1,060 per Ontario resident or over $1.4 billion every month. Interest is the fastest-growing line item in the government's budget.
Ontario taxpayers are paying the price for Ford's carelessness, and his political brand is taking damage as a result. Ford needs to become the tax-cutting, waste-fighting politician he pretended to be eight years ago. That means forgetting the private jets, cancelling the gravy train for politicians, and ending the cycle of borrowing and government debt.
Noah Jarvis is the Ontario Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
