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Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford insists Ontario is not vulnerable during a snap election campaign he called as a trade war with the United States looms, but opposition leaders say he’s abandoned the province at a crucial time.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday made good on his vow to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods, making an exception with a lower 10 per cent duty on energy.
Earlier that same day, Ford warned of difficult times ahead if the tariff threats became reality.
Ford called the election this past week. He justified it by saying he needs a fresh mandate from Ontarians in order to spend tens of billions of dollars to help people during a trade war.
He dissolved the provincial parliament on Tuesday, meaning bills cannot be passed into law until the formation of a new government. The snap election is set for Feb. 27 and could cost taxpayers as much as $189 million.
Yet the province is not weak, Ford said at a campaign stop in Brampton, Ont., on a frigid Saturday morning.
“It’s going to give us more strength, more certainty, because right now the only thing certain with President Trump is uncertainty, and when you have a four-year strong mandate, that gives us a lot more strength when we’re negotiating,” he said.
Ford spoke as if the tariffs were a done deal, though they had not yet materialized when Ford made his campaign stop.
Trump is targeting Ontario’s auto sector with the tariffs, saying he doesn’t need or want Canadian-made cars. He wants those cars to be made in the U.S.
During his last term, Trump signed the most recent free trade deal between the two countries and Mexico, which specifically carved out an automotive agreement. Cars, parts and raw materials are shipped back and forth across the Canada-U.S. border multiple times as they are built.
Trump now wants to rip up that deal.
Once tariffs go through, Ontarians will feel the pain quickly, Ford said.
“The coming weeks and months will be some of the toughest we’ve ever faced,” he said.
“The impact of these tariffs will be felt almost immediately. Companies’ orders are going to slow down, factories will have to reduce shifts, workers may lose their jobs.”
Opposition leaders have accused Ford of calling the early election ahead of the June 2026 fixed date to take advantage of good polling numbers and get out ahead of this year’s federal election. They say he is using Trump’s tariff threats as an excuse for personal gain.
Ford insists he can still act as sitting premier while campaigning and has two trips to Washington, D.C., planned for February that he said would be paid for by the PC Party.
Ford sidestepped questions Saturday about whether he would be able to implement his “economic action plan” to respond to tariffs during the campaign.
But he has said it will be the electorate’s decision whether to move forward with the measures, implying they will come after the election should he win.
Part of the plan includes a $22-billion stimulus package to build infrastructure, which Ford has said would go ahead regardless of Trump’s moves.
NDP Leader Marit Stiles said Ford should not have called a snap election.
“A premier doesn’t quit his job when we’re being plunged into a crisis like this,” Stiles said at a campaign stop in Toronto.
“So he decided to quit his job. I’m running to be premier of this province and I’m going to fight for every single job, every single person in every single sector in this province.”
Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie’s campaign said Saturday that Ford has left Ontario vulnerable.
“He’s been caught with his pants down, exposed because he’s not at work doing his job as he should be,” she said.
“This is a time of real threat, not a time of opportunity for yourself, Mr. Premier.”
Crombie then hopped aboard her new campaign bus, replete in Liberal red with white words that read “2.5 million people have no family doctor” on one side and “11,000 people died waiting for surgery last year” on the other.
Underneath those messages: “This is Doug Ford’s Ontario.”
Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner spent the fourth day of the campaign door-knocking in Kitchener, Ont., and supporting his deputy leader’s re-election campaign.
— With files from Maan Alhmidi in Brampton, Ont.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 1, 2025.
Liam Casey, The Canadian Press