TORONTO — Ontario spent nearly $200,000 in additional aviation-related costs tied to its short-lived purchase of a private jet, according to government documents released Wednesday.The records show the province incurred roughly $140,000 before taxes in aircraft management services, including maintenance, storage and servicing, along with nearly $34,000 in outside legal counsel expenses.The costs stem from the provincial government’s purchase and subsequent sale of a used 2016 Bombardier Challenger 650 executive jet.Premier Doug Ford announced last month that Ontario had purchased the aircraft for $28.9 million, saying it would be used for government travel and emergency purposes. The decision drew criticism from opposition parties and taxpayer advocates, prompting the government to reverse course days later.Ford later confirmed the province had agreed to sell the aircraft back to Bombardier for the same purchase price and pledged to publicly release financial records related to the transactions..A ministry briefing note included in the documents states the aircraft was purchased on April 15 and sold back to Bombardier on April 27.The government has maintained taxpayers did not lose money on the purchase price itself, but the newly released records detail the ancillary costs associated with the brief ownership period.Canadian Taxpayers Federation Ontario director Noah Jarvis criticized the spending, arguing the aircraft should never have been purchased.“Doug Ford should never have bought this private jet to begin with, and now it is costing taxpayers nearly $200,000,” Jarvis said in an interview. “It is taxpayer dollars that is being wasted, and we have no money to waste at this point.”Jarvis said many Ontarians would view the expenditure negatively at a time of economic uncertainty and provincial borrowing.“You ask the average person if $200,000 is a lot of money to them, and yeah, it is,” he said. “Taxpayers know that the cost of living is only getting worse.”Opposition parties, including the Ontario Liberals and NDP, have argued the jet purchase reflects a government that has “lost its way.” Jarvis declined to comment directly on partisan politics but said he believes the government has drifted from its earlier focus on fiscal restraint.“I think Ford really needs to do a deeper reflection into what got him into office in the first place, and start delivering for taxpayers in this province,” he said.Jarvis also called on the government and Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy to place greater emphasis on fiscal responsibility in future budgets.The Ford government has defended its broader spending plans by citing economic pressures and uncertainty surrounding trade policy and growth.
