Washington State Park workers put up a new Canadian flag in front of an American flag about to be replaced during scheduled maintenance atop the Peace Arch in Peace Arch Historical State Park, on Nov. 8, 2021, in Blaine, Wash.Elaine Thompson/The Associated Press
Doug Ford says he wants to meet with Donald Trump to talk trade as the incoming U.S. president threatens major tariffs on Canadian imports.
The Ontario Premier has been making the rounds on U.S. media since Mr. Trump said he would impose 25-per-cent tariffs on Canadian goods when the president-elect takes office on Jan. 20.
Mr. Trump has said the levies are meant to force Canada and Mexico, the two other North American countries, to stop migrants and fentanyl crossing their borders into the U.S. On Tuesday, Ottawa revealed a $1.3-billion border plan, meant to assuage Mr. Trump’s concerns.
In an interview on CNN Tuesday night, Mr. Ford said he hopes to persuade Mr. Trump to reconsider the tariffs.
“I’d love to sit down with the President, businessman to businessman, and have a conversation with him. Because we are so much stronger together,” Mr. Ford said on CNN’s Erin Burnett OutFront.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford speaks during a press conference at Canada's Premiers Conference in Toronto, on Dec. 16.GEOFF ROBINS/AFP/Getty Images
Mr. Ford, who has previously praised Mr. Trump while in office and has called himself a “big Republican,” spent two decades working out of the offices of his family’s label and packaging business in Chicago and New Jersey.
“I want to work with the U.S. I love the American people. I spent 20 years of my life there,” Mr. Ford said on CNN.
Mr. Ford’s government has also unveiled a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign in the U.S., with ads promoting the Canada-U.S. relationship on TV networks such as Fox News and at airports during the holiday season.
The country’s premiers met this week to hash out a plan to deal with Mr. Trump’s tariffs, though not all believe Canada should retaliate. Mr. Ford said they all agree with Mr. Trump’s demand to toughen up the border and also want Canada to meet NATO’s military spending target of 2 per cent of GDP.
Mr. Trump early Wednesday on social media repeated his comments about the idea of Canada being the 51st state and referred to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau again as Governor Trudeau. Asked about Mr. Trump’s previous references to Canada as a state, Mr. Ford replied: “He has a sense of humour.”
“But I’m more concerned about the trade, making sure that we secure trade on both sides of the border. And this is pretty simple. The President has asked to secure our border, and I agree with him 1,000 per cent,” Mr. Ford said.
The Ontario Premier told the Associated Press in an interview published Wednesday that he has a plan to send hundreds of provincial police officers to the border if Mr. Trump follows through on his pledge to enact “the largest mass deportation program in history.”
Mr. Ford told AP that tariffs would be a “disaster” that would hurt U.S. stock markets.
Brian Hughes, a spokesperson for the Trump-Vance transition team, didn’t directly address Mr. Ford’s request to meet with Mr. Trump.
“President Trump has promised tariff policies that protect working Americans from the unfair practices of foreign companies and foreign markets,” Mr. Hughes said in a statement to The Globe and Mail.
“As he did in his first term, he will implement economic and trade policies to make life affordable and more prosperous for our nation, while simultaneously levelling the playing field for American manufacturers.”
Jean-Sébastien Comeau, a spokesperson for newly-named Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who is also intergovernmental affairs minister, praised Mr. Ford’s outreach on the Canada-U.S. file.
“Premier Ford has been a key voice for Team Canada in stressing the very negative impact that tariffs would have on both Canadian and American workers,” Mr. Comeau said in a statement.
“We appreciate the extensive outreach he has been doing to American officials as well as the media appearances he has done on American cable news outlets in the last number of weeks, and we look forward to continue working closely with him on this file.”
In his CNN interview, Mr. Ford noted that Canada is the U.S.’s largest trading partner and that tariffs would hurt both countries. He pointed the finger at China and Mexico, and said the latter is allowing cheap Chinese goods to flood the North American market.
He has also said that he would block energy exports to the U.S., particularly electricity to New York, Michigan and Wisconsin, if the tariffs take effect. Ontario sends power to 1.5 million homes in the U.S. But the leaders of three other major energy exporting provinces – Alberta, Quebec and Newfoundland – said they would be unwilling to follow Ontario in blocking shipments of oil, gas or power to the U.S. in retaliation for tariffs.
Mr. Ford said that blocking energy exports is “the last thing” he wants to do. “I want to sell more electricity, more power to our U.S. friends and closest allies in the world. But that’s a tool that we have in our toolbox.”
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, in a statement posted to X on Wednesday, addressed Mr. Trump’s criticisms about Canada’s trade deficit and said millions of “good paying American jobs and companies” rely on “affordable raw materials from Canada to make trillions of dollars of wealth in your country.”
She said she hopes to strengthen the partnership between the two countries by securing the border and protecting North American workers from “unfair Chinese trade practices.” She added that she stands ready to work with the U.S. administration and plans to attend Mr. Trump’s inauguration in January.
In a New York Times interview published Tuesday, Mr. Ford said that he and his fellow 12 premiers have to “step into the breach” with a more active role in talks with the U.S., amid political turmoil in Mr. Trudeau’s government.
Liberal MPP Adil Shamji criticized Mr. Ford for his U.S. media blitz and said he should be focusing on matters at home, including declining housing starts.
“Doug Ford isn’t building, and he isn’t making housing more affordable. He’s on CNN promoting himself, playing footsie with Donald Trump over the airwaves,” Mr. Shamji said in a news release Wednesday.