Article content continued

Harper took a Challenger jet on 113 trips between April 2011 and February 2014, at a cost of approximately $1.8 million, according to the flight manifests. There’s no breakdown of where he travelled, although most of the trips would have been in Canada.

(Millions of dollars more are spent each year on Harper’s foreign travel for state visits and international summits. For those trips, he flies aboard the larger military Airbus CC-150 Polaris).

The Governor General took 109 trips aboard a Challenger jet between April 2011 and February 2014, at a cost of $2 million.

The Royal Canadian Air Force’s VIP Challenger jets seat nine passengers and cost more than $3,300 an hour to operate. They are used to shuttle around the Governor General, prime minister, cabinet ministers and other dignitaries. The RCMP has determined that, for security reasons, the prime minister and Governor General should not fly on commercial aircraft.

The Conservative government has come under fire recently for its use of the Challengers. In that instance, political opponents said Harper and his government were abusing taxpayer dollars by using the jets for Conservative party business but only repaying a fraction of the cost.

The federal government currently owns six Challenger jets, according to the Air Force’s website, although the Conservatives have been considering getting rid of up to four of the six VIP jets because the aircraft spend more time flying empty – so pilots can keep up their flying skills – than shuttling around ministers and dignitaries.