Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks during a pre-election event at LiUNA! Local 527's training centre in Ottawa on March 21.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said his phone call Monday with federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was the first time the two of them had ever spoken, but both men said Friday that the call did not involve a request for help with Mr. Poilievre’s election campaign.
A Toronto Star report said Mr. Poilievre had asked for Mr. Ford’s help with the upcoming election and that the Premier had turned him down, but the two leaders said that was not correct.
“First of all, it was the first I ever, ever spoke to him, and I guess what was reported is not accurate at all. He didn’t ask me for help,” Mr. Ford said at a photo opportunity in Toronto Friday morning.
The Premier, whose Progressive Conservative Party was recently re-elected to a third consecutive majority government, repeated his policy of not endorsing a party at the federal level.
“I just don’t believe in interfering in the federal election. That’s going to be up to the people to decide. I’ll work with anyone,” he said.
Mr. Ford has led his party since 2018. Mr. Poilievre has been the Conservative Leader since 2022 and has represented an Ontario riding in Parliament since 2004.
The Ontario PC caucus includes several individuals who were previously federal Conservative MPs.
But even with many ties between the two parties, public shows of support between the Ontario and federal Tories are rare. Neither Mr. Ford nor Mr. Poilievre have ever clearly explained why.
Mr. Poilievre was asked Friday whether he had asked Mr. Ford for his support and why the two men rarely say positive things about each other.
He too said the Star report “was not accurate” – that he and Mr. Ford discussed creating jobs, supporting Ring of Fire resource projects in Northern Ontario, cutting taxes “and reversing the lost Liberal decade of the last nine years.”
A source familiar with the phone call said Mr. Poilievre did not ask the Premier for anything and described the tone of the conversation as friendly and positive. The Globe and Mail is not identifying the source because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the conversation.
The source said Mr. Poilievre congratulated Mr. Ford on his Feb. 27 election victory, but the purpose of the call was not explicitly to congratulate the Premier. The conversation focused on co-operation and partnership, the source said, including protecting Ontario and Canada from the threat of U.S. tariffs. The source said the federal Conservative Leader was looking for advice, and Mr. Ford was receptive.
Mr. Poilievre has not spoken publicly about Mr. Ford’s win, although the source said the leaders’ respective teams have talked. Mr. Poilievre also did not congratulate Mr. Ford on social media.
The Premier has spoken glowingly about new Prime Minister Mark Carney, as well as former leadership candidate Chrystia Freeland, who had coffee with Mr. Ford and attended the Premier’s swearing-in ceremony in Toronto earlier this week.
On Friday Mr. Poilievre spoke with reporters in Ottawa at a campaign-style event at a training facility run by a local of the Labourers’ International Union of North America (LiUNA!), where he said a Conservative government would bring in a package of policies aimed at helping Canadians receive training in the skilled trades.
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During his appearance, Mr. Poilievre also indicated he hopes to frame the key question for voters as one that takes into account the Liberal record under former prime minister Justin Trudeau.
“The question in the next election will be: Can Canada afford a fourth term of the Liberals, led by Mark Carney, who, working with Trudeau, made Canada weaker and poorer and is too weak and conflicted to stand up to Donald Trump? Or do you think it’s time for a real change with a Conservative government that will stand up to Trump from a position of strength, unleash growth, bring home jobs, axe taxes, build homes, secure our border, rebuild our military and put Canada first?” he said.