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Ontario Premier Doug Ford will hold his first news conference in two weeks on Monday morning, as his government looks to try and change the channel after weeks of questions about transparency and its brief private jet purchase.
In mid-April, the government confirmed it had bought a second-hand Challenger 650, citing the premier’s travel across the country into the United States and across the country as the reason.
But only two days later, in the face of massive backlash, Ontario sold the $28.9 million plane back to Bombardier.
The day after confirming the plane had been resold, Ford appeared at a news conference in Ottawa and, the day after that, took part in an “informal scrum” with journalists at Queen’s Park.
Since then, as the government passed its clampdown on freedom of information laws and Ford was forced to apologize for making personal comments about a political opponent, his team has kept him away from news conferences or scrums.
Several events, including an “exclusive, members only” breakfast at the Albany club, haven’t been advertised at all, while the government unveiled plans for a new memorial at Queen’s Park behind closed doors.
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That will change on Monday morning, as a slew of ministers hold a flurry of events on the same day politicians return to Queen’s Park after a week-long break.
The stream of announcements begins with Emergency Preparedness and Response Minister Jill Dunlop holding a briefing in the government’s communication centre at 8:30 a.m. Just over two hours later, Solicitor General Michael Kerzner has an announcement in Toronto.
Around 12:30 p.m. — around the time journalists are normally at Queen’s Park to ask members of the government questions — Ford is scheduled to hold his own news conference, alongside Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow.
The flurry of announcements comes as the government tries to reset the agenda after a bruising few weeks.
It initially faced heat for a clampdown on transparency by excluding the premier, his cabinet and their staff from all freedom of information requests, a move that will likely kill a court order for Ford to hand over cellphone records.
Then, the solicitor general and premier spent a week trying to explain how jails run by the provincial government had lost more than 150 inmates over the past five years.
All this before the government confirmed it had bought a private jet and then rapidly sold it.
Polling released by Liaison Strategies suggested the stories had hurt Ford, with the Progressive Conservatives falling behind the leaderless Liberals in the polls.
Asked about the costs of the jet on Friday — and when documents to prove them would be released — Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy shrugged off the question.
“We are going through a process. As the process continues, we will be transparent. That is ongoing,” he said.
“But you know what, we have moved on. The premier was very categorical that he listened to the people of Ontario.”
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