The jet story Ford can’t land

And the Scarborough Showdown is on

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A BUMPY RIDE FOR FORD

Premier DOUG FORD’s jet headache isn’t going away. But first: the countdown to what is currently the most dramatic political fight in provincial politics is on.

The Liberals announced the arbitration committee, headed up by ex-minister DAVID ZIMMER, will meet to discuss NATE ERSKINE-SMITH’s appeal of the Scarborough Southwest byelection next Wednesday evening. The event isn’t open to media, but the party has promised to make the committee’s report public sometime after. (The rest of us will be at the Press Gallery’s Spring Fling that night, so if you’ve got any intel, hit me up.)

Meanwhile, plenty of ink continues to flow on the matter. Team Nate is feeling vindicated after reports that Prime Minister MARK CARNEY’s office denied endorsing Erskine-Smith on the eve of the nomination — something Premier DOUG FORD teased that even that was not enough to put him “over the finish line.”

But, and it’s a biggie: The …