ANALYSIS: Doug Ford could have seen this coming

It all seemed so obviously inevitable. Doesn’t anybody in the premier’s office ever read a history book?

Let’s recap. Doug Ford wanted to buy a jet. Ontario’s 26th premier is a busy guy, in charge of a province that, at 1 million square kilometres, is larger than France and Spain combined.

Since the premier often likes to compare running Ontario to being responsible for a quarter-of-a-trillion-dollar-a-year business, let’s also acknowledge that corporate executives who lead companies that big probably have access to private jets.

People all over Ontario invite the premier to their events and have some expectation that he’ll make every effort to attend. There’s no doubt that, with a $29 million Bombardier Challenger 650 executive jet, Ford’s travel schedule would be immeasurably easier.

However…

There are few decisions in politics that are so controversial that both the left and the right are opposed. This was one of them. The opposition at Queen’s Park hated the decision because it can think of so many better things to do with $29 million, other than make Ford’s life easier. Meanwhile, the Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation blasted Ford, saying that, even though the plane was 10 years old and made in Ontario, it was a ridiculous and unnecessary expenditure for provincial taxpayers.

I wondered how members of the […] This is an excerpt. Read the full article at TVO.org.