Pattern
Announce extreme measure, face backlash, retreat to still-aggressive position that seems moderate by comparison.
Cumulative Documented Cost
Pattern Sequence
Remove 7,400 acres from the Greenbelt for developers identified in AG report (Nov 2022)
AG report and RCMP investigation trigger public outrage (2023)
Government reverses Greenbelt decision after two ministers resign
Highway 413 proceeds through the same developers' land anyway
Documentation
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On April 17, 2026, the Ontario government confirmed it had spent $28.9 million on a pre-owned 2016 Bombardier Challenger 650 jet for Premier Doug Ford's use. The province cited federal-provincial meetings and US tariff travel. Operating costs were not publicly disclosed at the time of announcement. NDP, Liberal, and Canadian Taxpayers Federation criticism was immediate; civic group NoJetsTO linked the purchase to the government's concurrent Billy Bishop Airport expansion plan under Bill 5.
Attempted elimination of the independent French Language Services Commissioner, reversed after backlash from across the political spectrum including federal Conservatives.
The government restructured autism funding in ways that drastically reduced support for many families, then partially reversed after massive protests.
The government invoked the notwithstanding clause to impose a contract on education workers and ban strikes, then reversed course after two weeks following widespread backlash.
The Ford government slashed $133 million (30%) from Legal Aid Ontario's budget in April 2019, forcing clinic closures and eliminating refugee services, before partially backtracking eight months later under public pressure.
Laurentian University became the first public Canadian university to file for creditor protection, cutting 69 programs and 195 jobs after the Ford government refused a $100 million funding request and excluded it from pandemic relief.