An early Ontario election has officially been called by Premier Doug Ford following his meeting with the province’s Lieutenant-Governor, which is now scheduled for Feb. 27.
Lt.-Gov. Edith Dumont granted Ford’s request to dissolve the 43rd Ontario provincial parliament after the two spoke in her office Tuesday.
Ahead of their meeting Ford told reporters that he required a new mandate from the electorate regarding U.S. President Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on Canadian imports.
“Right now, President Trump has put uncertainty to every single Canadian, a lot of other countries around the world, and this isn’t going to happen overnight,” Ford told reporters on Tuesday.
“It may not happen Feb. 1 — I’m sure something’s coming — but this is going to be a battle for the next four years, and I want to make sure that I have a strong mandate to outlast President Trump.”
Ford said he intends to continue carrying out his duties as premier until the election, such as travelling to Washington, D.C. next month along with the other premiers, while also campaigning in Ontario.
Additionally, he said his cabinet has discussed its “economic action plan” to mitigate the impacts that the impending tariffs will have on the province which will be rolled out ahead of the election.
Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner called for Ford to release his economic action plan immediately, instead of holding off until after Trump implements his tariffs.
“If the premier has an economic action plan ready to go, why not just implement it?” said Schreiner. “Why not work across party lines to protect Ontario workers, Ontario jobs and Ontario companies?”
Following news of the early election, Ford took to social media to ask Ontarians for a “strong, stable, four-year mandate that will outlive and outlast the Trump administration.”
This marks a change in tune for Ford from 2016 when he repeatedly endorsed Trump for president.
“We’re entering a period of unprecedented economic risk and lengthy negotiations – against President Trump and with the federal government and other provinces,” wrote Ford in a post to X.
“Responding to this challenge will demand extraordinary action: the need to invest tens of billions of dollars in unplanned spending and tough choices about making Ontario’s economy the most competitive place to invest, create jobs and do business.”
Ford’s decision to call an early election has been criticized as a waste of money and time by Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie and NDP Leader Marit Stiles.
Crombie accused Ford of “plunging” Ontarians into an early and unnecessary election when “we need calm, stability and a plan to deal with the tariff threat.”
“At Ontario’s most critical moment, our Premier is choosing to put 500,000 jobs at risk. He only cares about his job, not yours. Trump’s tariff threats are a serious issue, not a political game with you as the pawn — and certainly not an excuse for a $175 million election,” wrote Crombie.
“While the people of Ontario are anxious about the grave threat of tariffs, Doug Ford is pursuing his own political gain,” said Stiles in a statement. “People need a premier who will fight like hell for every single job that’s at risk, not run to the polls over a year early.”
