Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s office responded to U.S. President Donald Trump’s intentions to impose tariffs on Canadian goods next week by sending an internal email to Progressive Conservative Party staff, telling them the majority government needs a mandate stronger to negotiate effectively during a possible trade war.
Monday night’s email, obtained by CBC Toronto, is perhaps the strongest signal yet that Ford intends to call an early election in 2025. In it, Ford’s chief of staff said he had a “brief but important update” in light of Trump’s planned tariffs. .
“As we enter a period of unprecedented economic risk and critical negotiations, our government will need a strong mandate from the people to defend Ontario,” Patrick Sackville told party employees in the email.
“The stronger the mandate, the better.”
In the weeks leading up to his inauguration on Monday, Trump repeatedly threatened to impose a 25 per cent tariff on all Canadian goods entering the United States, something the Ford government has said could cost Ontario half a million jobs.
Hours after Trump’s inauguration, the president reaffirmed his intentions to reporters live on television. Trump said Monday night that he could implement a tariff against Canada on February 1.
“This unnecessary and misguided action by President Trump poses an immediate and devastating impact on the jobs, livelihoods and well-being of hundreds of thousands of Ontarians,” Sackville said. “Make no mistake: this is just the beginning of what will be a long, hard fight.”
With US President-elect Donald Trump taking office on Monday, Metro Morning host David Common spoke with an expert international trade researcher about what can be done to protect Canada’s economy from the threat of the tariffs.
Ford has been hinting at an early election for months, and recently used the threat of US tariffs as a reason to send Ontarians back to the polls.
“I need a clear mandate from the people of Ontario. Not for tomorrow or the day after, but for four years of dealing with our American friends,” he told reporters at Queen’s Park on Monday.
“The answer to chaos is not more chaos,” says the liberal leader
Ontario opposition leaders have said Ford already has a strong mandate, leading a majority government with more than a year left in his term and serving as president of the Federation Council, which represents the premiers of Canada.
Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles said Monday’s email was not a surprise.
“Doug Ford sees this as a gift, as an opportunity to secure his re-election,” he said Tuesday of the tariff threat.
“It’s not about protecting those 500,000 jobs. It’s about protecting your own jobs,” he said. “He already has that mandate. I don’t know what else he needs. And I’m willing to work with him.”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is painting a bleak picture of the potential impact of U.S. tariffs on the province’s labor market. CBC’s Lane Harrison has how trade experts react.
Opposition parties, including the NDP, have said they would support the Ford Progressive Conservative government’s emergency spending to support industries and workers during a potential trade war. Ford has said that type of stimulus package would cost tens of billions of dollars and that he would need a new mandate to spend that amount of money.
Ontario Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie said Tuesday that an election now would leave the province rudderless at a critical time when it needs to present a united front.
“The answer to chaos is not more chaos,” Crombie said in a speech at the Ontario Regional Municipality conference in Toronto on Tuesday. “President Trump’s tariffs should be treated as a threat, not an excuse to call unnecessary early elections.”
Crombie said Ford has focused too much on tariffs and a potential election at the expense of other issues, such as a lack of affordable housing and an overburdened health care system.
The Ford administration began fueling speculation about an early election before Trump began threatening tariffs late last year, taking tough stances on controversial issues such as encampments, bike lanes and supervised consumption sites.
His government also announced $200 rebate checks for all residents in December, something opposition leaders have called a trick to win votes.
