Ontarians deserve a say in how the province responds to President-elect Donald Trump’s threatened 25% tariffs, says Ontario Premier Doug Ford.
Ford mentioned the need for a strong mandate from the people of Ontario to respond to Trump’s proposed tariffs during a press conference on Ontario’s minerals on Monday. It was Ford’s most explicit reference to calling an early election despite months of rumours that he is considering it.
After re-electing Ford’s Progressive Conservative government with another majority in 2022, Ontarians are not set to go back to the polls until 2026 without an early election.
Ford said that although his opponents, Ontario Liberal leader Bonnie Crombie and NDP leader Marit Stiles, would have no problem spending “tens of billions” on a stimulus package if Ontario’s economy requires it, the people should decide.
He said he would wait to see the impact of Trump’s likely tariffs before launching the province into another election.
“I’m going to fight with every tool I have in our toolbox to protect Ontario and Canadian jobs, and they may think it’s okay just to go ahead and throw off our fiscal plan moving forward, I don’t think that,” he said. “I think if it comes to it, and we have to spend tens of billions of dollars, we go to the people, let the people decide it’s their money. It’s not the government’s. That’s where we differ.”
A recent poll by Liaison Strategies for the National Ethic Press and Media Council of Canada found that Ford’s Progressive Conservatives are ahead of Crombie’s Liberals by 10 points.
The poll surveyed 1,202 Ontario voters on Jan. 8-9, 2025. The pollsters reported a margin of error no greater or lesser than 2.82% 19 times out of 20.
It found the Ontario PCs with 40% support, the Ontario Liberals with 30% support and the provincial NDP at 21%.
Ford won a second majority government with 83 seats in June 2022, with 40% of the popular vote.
In a social media post on Monday, Stiles echoed the need to stand up against the “reckless tariffs” to protect Ontario jobs but urged Ford not to call an early election.
“With uncertainty in Ottawa, Doug Ford must put the good of the province ahead of his own political ambitions and shelve his early election plans,” the post said.
Ford said the premiers will be meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday and are looking forward to hearing a federal plan to deal with Trump’s proposed tariffs. He noted that Ontario was doing everything it could to avoid the tariffs, including securing the border.
“Keep in mind, folks, this is (federal) jurisdiction. They need to come up with a strong plan. They need to be doing everything every single day to make sure we avoid these tariffs,” Ford said.
He noted that Canada has increased security at the border to prevent illegal immigration, drug smuggling and weapons from coming into Canada from the U.S. in hopes of avoiding the tariffs and a potential trade war.
Also Monday, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh called on Canada’s leaders to withdraw supply of critical minerals to the US as Trump’s threatened tariffs could be put in place as early as his first day in office on Jan. 20, 2025.
When asked about the call to action, Ford said he would wait to see the tariffs before escalating to withdrawing goods from the US. He said that despite not knowing the federal government’s plans for addressing the economic threats, he will continue pushing for a stronger economic relationship with the U.S.
“Let’s try to avoid (a trade war). All it’s going to do is hurt Canadians. It’s going to hurt Americans. It’s going to hurt America big time. It’s going to hurt us big time as well, and especially here in Ontario,” Ford said. “So we might have to do things that are unprecedented to make sure that we support people working, the hard-working, blue-collar people in our province that they know the government has their back.”
Since Trump’s escalating rhetoric about economic pressures against Canada, Ford has been on a U.S. media tour to promote his vision of a strengthened U.S.-Canada relationship, dubbed “Fortress Am-Can.”
