Premier Doug Ford says he achieved his goal with an Ontario government ad that uses former U.S. President Ronald Reagan’s own words to send an anti-tariff message to the American public.
On Monday, Ford called the ad campaign “very effective” and said it received more than one billion impressions.
“We generated a conversation that was not happening in the US. — now every local media, every big and medium-sized media in the United States is talking about it,” Ford told reporters at Queen’s Park in Toronto on Monday.
The minute-long anti-tariff television ad, which launched on October 14, led US President Donald Trump to cancel all trade negotiations with Canada. The ad included a voiceover of Reagan’s April 1987 radio speech on free trade and a series of cinematic shots depicting American landscapes and workers.
Last week, Trump attacked the ad, which he attributed to Canada and not Ontario, as fraudulent and false.
Ford said Monday that his intention was never to “poke the president in the eye” but rather to inform Americans about the impact of the tariffs on workers and businesses.
“Do you know why President Trump is so upset right now? Because it was effective. It worked, it woke up the whole country,” he said of the ads.
Listen to some of the questions asked of Ontario Premier Doug Ford on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump broke off trade talks last week, citing an anti-tariff ad released by the Ontario government in the United States.
Ford withdrew the ad on Monday after speaking with Prime Minister Mark Carney, so trade talks between the two countries could resume.
When asked by reporters if Ford had received any comment from Carney about the ad, he said he would not engage in “personal conversations” but that the prime minister was aware of the campaign before it aired.
“He knew I was running the show. I told everyone that very clearly,” Ford told reporters Monday. “He saw the ad before I posted it, as did his chief of staff. They both saw it and we moved on.”
Ford said he spoke to “almost every prime minister” in Canada about the announcement and said they all stand together and continue to support his efforts against Trump.
The premier’s office previously said Ontario was spending $75 million on the campaign, which aired on many American networks, including during Game 7 of the American League Championship Series and Games 1 and 2 of the World Series.
The Ontario government is launching a new multimillion-dollar advertising campaign aimed at American residents, warning them about the dangers of tariffs. CBC’s Lorenda Reddekopp has the details.
Ford said Monday that he doesn’t know exactly how much his government spent on the campaign, but it wasn’t as high as previously reported.
“It was a lot less because we were going to run ads all February. Now we put it on pause, but did we get our money’s worth? Oh my God, we got our money’s worth,” he said.
Reagan Foundation ‘reviewing legal options’
Ford also defended the campaign and said it did nothing wrong since the commercial uses an unedited excerpt from one of Reagan’s public speeches as president, which is available in the public domain.
“I’ve seen more clips of Ronald Reagan than you can imagine. He was a free trader,” Ford said. “By the way, I hated the tariffs, and all you have to do is watch the clips.”
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute posted on social media last week that “the ad misrepresents the presidential radio address, and the Ontario government did not request or receive permission to use and edit the comments.”
The institute added that it “is reviewing its legal options in this matter.”
Ford is expected to speak with ABC, NBC, CBS and CNN on Monday night.
NDP leader says Ford ‘screwed up’
Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles said the premier “screwed up” with his campaign.
“Your job is to represent Ontario and save the jobs we have now,” Stiles told reporters at Queen’s Park on Monday. “He’s so focused on these big flashy ego-boosting ads and not on the real problems we face here.”
Ontario Liberal interim leader John Fraser also questioned Ford’s intentions with the announcement, calling it a “reckless” decision.
“What was I thinking? What was the result supposed to be?” Fraser said Monday. “The prime minister should stay in his lane.”
