{"id":618932,"date":"2026-04-21T14:07:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T14:07:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/618932\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T14:07:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T14:07:16","slug":"progressive-conservatives-worry-fords-private-jet-blunder-is-the-start-of-his-undoing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/618932\/","title":{"rendered":"Progressive Conservatives worry Ford\u2019s private jet blunder is \u2018the start of his undoing\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Premier Doug Ford\u2019s<\/a> decision to buy a pricey taxpayer-funded jet in the middle of an affordability challenge is a \u201ctoxic combination\u201d that could erode the public\u2019s confidence in his government, one provincial pollster says.<\/p>\n

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Ford said the purchase of the $28.9 million Challenger 650, which he planned to use for government-related travel across the country and into the United States, was a \u201cmistake\u201d \u2014 one that he recognized came at the wrong time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand their concerns,\u201d Ford said of the residents who messaged him over the weekend. \u201cI understand the cost of fuel is going up. I understand groceries are going up. I understand everything is going up and it\u2019s costly.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do appreciate the calls that I received, saying this is not the time right now. I also appreciate the calls that said, yes, this is justified.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Beyond the anger, however, political watchers believe the jet \u2014 which the opposition dubbed the \u201cgravy plane\u201d \u2014 could permanently damage Ford\u2019s brand, which has been carefully curated over the course of decades.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s the premier who would not just sit on commercial flights, but book a seat at the very back of the plane so he would have to walk through and everybody would see him sitting at the back of a plane. Those were the kinds of things that I think people found, he was one of them,\u201d said David Coletto, CEO of Abacus Data.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing hypocritical is often poison for a politician because it undermines a trust that\u2019s already weakly held. Most people don\u2019t trust politicians generally. And so when you can build some trust and you squander it, maybe if it didn\u2019t tend to by doing something like this, it may not come back.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Even for Progressive Conservatives, speaking on the condition of anonymity to share frank views, the plane was a bridge too far.<\/p>\n

\u201cEnding the gravy train was what Doug Ford ran on during the first campaign,\u201d one party member told Global News.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Click<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWidespread backlash prompts Ford, Ontario government to sell $29M jet\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s eradicated his brand,\u201d they added. \u201cThis is the start of his undoing.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Other party members agreed with the assessment, calling it a communications \u201cdisaster\u201d and an issue that makes the premier look \u201carrogant.\u201d<\/p>\n

Government House Leader Steve Clark said people in his riding were \u201crightly\u201d upset about the purchase of the plane, given the situation in the province.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo many people are feeling the pinch,\u201d Clark said. \u201cGovernments make mistakes, we\u2019re not perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Asked whether this poses a long-term threat to the brand, Clark pointed to the 2025 election campaign, which delivered the PCs a third straight majority government despite the Greenbelt scandal.<\/p>\n

Ford\u2019s defenders, however, see the situation differently.<\/p>\n

\u201cPart of the brand he has cultivated over the last eight years is that he makes mistakes, he owns them and the public forgives him,\u201d another Progressive Conservative said on a not-for-attribution basis.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis brand is: he\u2019s imperfect,\u201d the Tory said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe misspeaks, he screws up, but he\u2019s just like you. You\u2019re not perfect, your neighbours aren\u2019t perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Colletto argues the jet, combined with the government changes to freedom of information laws, to exempt the premier and his cabinet from disclosing their government records, could prove to be a \u201cdouble whammy\u201d of negative sentiment.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI think anytime someone has a negative view of somebody, it\u2019s hard to change their mind, whether it\u2019s a politician, a brand, a friend, somebody who you feel lets you down,\u201d Coletto said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to build that trust back up.\u201d<\/p>\n

For some Conservatives, it\u2019s a sign of a larger issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a symptom of a government that\u2019s long in tooth,\u201d one source said. \u201cThey\u2019re no different than the very people they replaced \u2026 they\u2019re now even worse.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Ford\u2019s supporters believe the negative headlines over the jet will hurt the party in the polls, they don\u2019t think it will be \u201cfatal\u201d<\/p>\n

But, one insider said, it serves as a wake up call \u201cto get back to his roots.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRemember how and why he got elected, and how and why he\u2019s here,\u201d the supporter said. \u201cUltimately, that\u2019s going to serve him well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Premier Doug Ford\u2019s decision to buy a pricey taxpayer-funded jet in the middle of an affordability challenge is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":618933,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,13743,13403,43,44,13404,714,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-618932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-canada","tag-doug-ford","tag-ford-government","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-ontario-politics","tag-politics","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618932","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=618932"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618932\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/618933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=618932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=618932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=618932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}