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Former prime minister Stephen Harper paid rock-bottom prices for his personal use of the government’s fleet of Challenger executive jets, newly-released documents show.

On the rare occasions that Harper reimbursed the government for use of the aircraft by himself or his family members, he paid rates far below the approximately $10,000 per flying hour it costs the Department of National Defence to operate them on average.

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During his time in office, Harper said he would repay the government the equivalent air-carrier rates for any personal use of the DND aircraft, as he was not allowed to fly commercial because of security concerns.

His staff appears to have used the lowest available cost of flights to calculate the amount he repaid.

When Harper declared a personal flight, his director of tour and scheduling sent a note to DND and the chief of the air staff asking them to issue an invoice in the amount determined by the PMO.