But I don\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Regular readers of Listen Up will know that I do not always agree with Ontario Premier Doug Ford and have not hesitated to speak out when I believed it to be necessary. But the two issues he is being pummeled for now, the purchase of a used $28.9 million jet and legislation to exempt Cabinet members from the Freedom of Information Act, I can defend. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
First, however, let\u2019s look at what the Province of Ontario represents. This province has a huge economy, a nominal GDP of about $1.2 trillion. That GDP has grown by 5.1% in 2024 and by 4.2% in 2025. Ontario\u2019s economy is nearly double that of Quebec. Ontario alone accounts for about 38-40% of Canada\u2019s GDP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If Ontario were a country, it would rank among the world\u2019s top 20 economies, and it is larger than the economies of many G20 nations. Ontario is also among the top subnational economies in the world, and outside of the United States, quite likely the largest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Premier of Ontario is the Chief Executive Officer of this mammoth public corporation, ultimately responsible for ensuring the resources and the national and international respect required to protect the interests of the province and the sixteen million people who live here. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now let\u2019s turn to this $28.9 million jet about which there is so much kerfuffle. There are two areas where I think things could have been handled better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The rollout, including the timing of this announcement, was terrible, in my view. To try to sneak it out on a Friday night before a weekend, with the hope that fewer people would see it, was just wrong, especially when there were inadequate talking points to accompany it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Premier Ford\u2019s communications people should have known that this was going to be a major issue that the media would jump all over, requiring strategies, specific rationale and message management with background information, including why this purchase was in the best interest of everyone in Ontario. That did not happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead, most, if not all, of this was left for Premier Ford to deal with after the cat was out of the bag. If I were him, I would have a pretty blunt and potentially career-changing discussion with my comms. people about the manner in which this entire matter was handled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As well, once the announcement was made about the jet purchase, I think it was unwise to back down. That would have required a different key-issue management strategy, but there is a case to argue that the jet purchase was the right thing to do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whatever damage there was by making this announcement, it was done. It happened. Backing off would not have changed that damage significantly, and it only gave a bloodthirsty media another opportunity to go after Doug Ford again, this time for flip-flopping. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The mainstream media is having a heyday over the Ford government\u2019s purchase of a private plane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Ford was in Ottawa last Monday, he was scrummed about the purchase, and one journalist felt comfortable in writing about it this way. \u201cWhen he met the media (in Ottawa) on Monday, the premier prattled on earnestly and self-pityingly about how busy he is, how important he is, how valuable his time is.\u201d Actually, as the leader of one of the top twenty economies in the world, he is and should be all three of those. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another, less biased reporter at that very same scrum, having heard Ford\u2019s rationale, which was thorough in its delivery for purchasing the jet, asked him, \u201cThen why did you sell it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although it is barely reported, there is a strong case for purchasing this jet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
First of all, this was not Doug Ford\u2019s airplane, as so many people want to describe it as his gravy plane. It was a government plane, which, yes, was purchased for use by the Premier, but also for the use of Cabinet members and senior bureaucrats when it is necessary to travel on government business. This is not a luxury. It is the cost of doing business at a level that is fitting for the size, responsibilities and reputation of Ontario. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can remember, as his chief of staff, flying around the province with then-Premier Frank Miller in a King Air. It was cramped, uncomfortable and not conducive to conducting business. As well, it was not always safe. I remember one trip to Northern Ontario where the weather turned bad and Frank Miller, himself a pilot, looked out the window as we were starting to descend and said, \u201cWe are not going to make it.\u201d Sure enough, in that little plane, the flight was aborted, and we returned to Toronto without landing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Second, there is the matter of security. Premiers, Prime Ministers and yes, Presidents require it when they travel with enough space and facilities to ensure their safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is especially important under current circumstances, where political leaders increasingly become targets. That may be why the government of Quebec has three jets at their disposal. Surely Ontario, with twice the economy, should at least have one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally, and probably most importantly, we should reflect on a premier\u2019s primary responsibility, which is to protect Ontario\u2019s economy so that the needs of its people can be met. There is an argument to be made that in these challenging times, the money spent on a jet could be much better spent elsewhere. I would suggest another side to that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ontario is caught in the middle of a potentially crippling tariff war. The only way to protect Ontario\u2019s economy is for Premier Ford and his leadership team to \u201csell\u201d Ontario as a place to trade and to seek new partners who are willing to do that. This is at a time when almost every jurisdiction in the Western world, other than the United States, is doing the same thing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That requires extensive travel, not just in Canada but in the United States, Mexico and South America. We cannot come to these meetings with both governments and mega-corporations looking like beggars, hat in hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In developing new relationships and in maintaining those we already have, image and stature are important, and competition is high. Ontario, as a significant economic force with a great deal to offer its potential partners, must live up to those challenges and expectations if it is going to attract significant investments and trade deals for Ontario. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is those investments and partnerships that will provide Ontario with the resources it requires to adequately fund the needs of many people and programs that desperately need it. In comparison, the jet would have been a drop in the bucket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just to add fuel to the fire, let me deal briefly with the other issue currently plaguing the Ford government. I also have some empathy for their legislation that limits freedom of Information requests for Cabinet members. Of course, transparency in government is important, but that does not mean that some issues, negotiations, conversations, and strategic planning should be subjected to the full light of public knowledge. It just doesn\u2019t work that way, in my view. That goes to telephone conversations as well. There are times when privacy is a necessity of doing business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is not perfect. He can be bombastic at times, but he is not afraid to make the tough decisions, even when they sometimes backfire on him. Most importantly, he fights hard for Ontario, and he remains a leading figure in defending Canada\u2019s interests at an extremely challenging time for this country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
On balance, I think he is a pretty good premier. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hugh Mackenzie<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nHugh Mackenzie has held elected office as a trustee on the Muskoka Board of Education, a Huntsville councillor, a District councillor, and mayor of Huntsville. He has also served as chairman of the District of Muskoka and as chief of staff to the former Premier of Ontario, Frank Miller.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Hugh has also served on a number of provincial, federal and local boards, including chair of the Ontario Health Disciplines Board, vice-chair of the Ontario Family Health Network, vice-chair of the Ontario Election Finance Commission, and board member of Roy Thomson Hall, the National Theatre School of Canada, and the Anglican Church of Canada. Locally, he has served as president of the Huntsville Rotary Club, chair of Huntsville District Memorial Hospital, chair of the Huntsville Hospital Foundation, president of Huntsville Festival of the Arts, and board member of Community Living Huntsville.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n In business, Hugh Mackenzie has a background in radio and newspaper publishing. He was also a founding partner and CEO of Enterprise Canada, a national public affairs and strategic communications firm established in 1986.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Currently, Hugh is president of C3 Digital Media Inc., the parent company of Doppler Online, and he enjoys writing commentary for Huntsville Doppler.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\nDon\u2019t miss out on Doppler!<\/h5>\n