Why Ford did a one-eighty on the jet

Plus: "I'm more conservative than you"

ALL PLANE, NO GAIN

HARD LANDING — Premier DOUG FORD knew the questions were going to come hard and fast over his hot-potato nearly $30M private jet purchase and prompt flip-flop, so he came armed with his defence and in full damage control mode.

“I guess the topic we’re going to talk about is the plane,” he told reporters in Ottawa at a Canadian Chamber of Commerce event.

“I’m the only person in the world that gives out a cell number, and I heard loud and clear from the people that this was not the time to purchase a plane,” he went on to say, suggesting his soon-to-be-non-FOI-able cellphone was blowing up after the news broke. “I heard from the people, and I’m the Premier that listens to the people. If they don’t like something, I’m not too shy to change my mind and say, ‘Okay, this isn’t the time.’”

Ford, who has a fear of flying, conceded he should have made the business case for the jet, but after the public backlash, he admitted he “made a mistake” and insisted “this was not Doug F…