Ontario Premier Doug Ford, wearing a 'Canada Is Not For Sale' hat, speaks as he arrives for a first ministers meeting in Ottawa on Jan. 15.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is considering calling a snap provincial election as early as next week, a source says, with Mr. Ford’s top staffer sending an internal memo about the need for strong political support to deal with U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs threat.
The Globe and Mail is not identifying the Progressive Conservative source, who was not authorized to speak publicly about internal deliberations. The Premier has repeatedly declined to rule out calling an election more than a year in advance of the next scheduled vote, set for June, 2026.
If an election were to be called next week, Ontario’s five-week election period would mean voters would head to the polls in late February. The PC source said no decision has been made. The potential election date for next month was first reported by the Toronto Star.
Mr. Ford’s chief of staff, Patrick Sackville, said in an internal memo sent late Monday and obtained by The Globe that “as we enter a period of unparalleled economic risk and critical negotiations, our government will need a strong mandate from the people to stand up for Ontario with President Trump, Canada’s federal government, and other provinces to ensure we can effectively respond to, outlast and, ultimately, win this fight.”
“The stronger the mandate, the better.”
The new U.S. President declared on live television Monday evening that he plans to impose 25-per-cent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods as soon as Feb. 1. Mr. Sackville, in the e-mail sent shortly after Mr. Trump’s comments, called the potential tariffs “unnecessary and wrongheaded,” and said they would pose an immediate and devastating effect on the jobs and livelihoods of Ontario families and businesses as well as American consumers and workers.
Mr. Sackville said the tariff threat is the beginning of a “long, hard fight,” and that workers and businesses in the province will look to government for financial aid and leadership.
Mr. Ford has in recent days used similar language to Mr. Sackville, saying he needs a clear mandate from the public if he is to spend billions of dollars on financial aid as a result of tariffs. But Mr. Sackville’s note to the top staff members in government indicates widespread election preparation internally.
Prior to Mr. Trump’s comments on television threatening tariffs as of Feb. 1, Mr. Ford had warned that, despite the absence of any mention of Canada in the President’s inaugural address, the Premier still expected tariffs to come. And he argued he would need a new mandate from voters to deal with what he called an attack on Canada that targets Ontario’s manufacturing might.
“I need a clear mandate from the people of Ontario to fight against these tariffs, to make sure that we have a loud voice,” Mr. Ford told reporters on Monday at Queen’s Park. “This is going to be for four years with Donald Trump. He wants to undermine us any which way he can.”
In an opinion piece published in The Wall Street Journal on Monday, Mr. Ford again promoted his idea of a “Fortress Am-Can,” a proposed strategic alliance between Canada and the U.S. that would allow America to decouple from its reliance on China.
Mr. Ford said the partnership would help expand both Canadian and U.S. economies, and achieve energy security by establishing a new critical mineral security alliance “that builds supply chains and processing capacity in America and Canada.”
He wrote that “it would encourage more exports of Canadian energy and electricity to the U.S. – including Ontario’s clean nuclear energy – to power economic growth on both sides of the border.”
Mr. Ford added: “Every country must decide if it stands with Washington or Beijing. Canada stands with Washington. We can’t allow China and its allies to manipulate markets or disrupt supply chains that put our security at risk.”
Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles, who heads the Official Opposition at Queen’s Park, said Tuesday that Mr. Ford should be focused on drafting a comprehensive plan to counter U.S. tariffs – not an early provincial election.
Ms. Stiles said she would be prepared to work with Mr. Ford’s PC government on any proposed bailout package to cushion the blow of Mr. Trump’s potential tariffs. But if an election is called, she said, her party will be ready to fight.
“He already has that mandate. I don’t know what more he needs,” Ms. Stiles told reporters at Queen’s Park.
She accused Mr. Ford of seeing the current crisis as a political opportunity and criticized him for simply tossing out ideas, such as ordering the removal of U.S. booze from provincial liquor-store shelves, instead of drafting a broader plan.
“What I see Doug Ford doing is just throwing spaghetti at the wall, over and over again. This feels like a plan on the back of a napkin as opposed to a cohesive and united approach to protecting our jobs.”
Ontario Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie also criticized Mr. Ford for weighing an early campaign, accusing him of trying to hold on to power a year ahead of the scheduled June, 2026, vote.
“President Trump’s tariffs should be treated as a threat. Not as an excuse to call an unnecessary early election,” she said in a speech Tuesday at the Rural Ontario Municipal Association conference in Toronto.
“The answer to chaos is not more chaos.”