A freedom of information request has revealed that Ontario Premier Doug Ford's trip to Texas this year cost taxpayers just over 93,000 dollars. According to the disclosure, that total included a staff scouting mission carried out in advance of the premier's visit.
The figure drew sharp criticism from opposition parties, who were not convinced Ontarians got value for the money. One critic called it the most expensive trip to Texas they had ever heard of, describing the visit as a dog and pony show and saying they were not sure what had actually been achieved down there.
On the trip, Ford had been expected to meet with Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Trump supporter, but the meeting never happened. Ford cited scheduling problems for the missed encounter, saying he had instead mainly met with companies and business leaders and that the trip was worth it.
Defending the outcome, Ford said the visit would bring close to a billion dollars of investment from all the companies involved, and insisted he was being very conservative with that estimate. He indicated the figure excluded anything to do with the auto sector, including Toyota.
The disclosure also showed that Ford's professional photographer was part of his entourage, documenting the meetings. That detail prompted opposition figures to question whether the trip was in effect part of the government's Protect Ontario advertising campaign rather than a substantive business mission.
The Texas visit is tied to a separate controversy over a private jet. The government had purchased a jet for about 30 million dollars and quickly sold it back following public outcry. It later emerged that a deposit on the jet had already been made more than two months earlier, meaning it was in place while Ford was in Texas.
Since the Texas trip, Ford has made three other visits to the United States, to Washington, South Carolina and Utah. The interim Liberal leader said he supported the premier travelling to the U.S. to defend Ontario, but not a government wasting tax dollars on private luxury jets, fancy hotel rooms and expensive dinners, suggesting trips to Japan, India or Europe to diversify the province's partnerships instead.