Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford is defending simultaneously wearing two hats — campaigning in a snap election he called and taking anti-tariff actions as premier.
This is a bad time for Ontario to find itself in an election, the other political party leaders say, amid the chaos of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff threats.
Tariffs of 25 per cent on Canadian goods were expected on Feb. 1, then on Feb. 4 and now not for at least another 30 days, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday.
Despite the turmoil, Ford steadfastly maintains he can respond to tariffs as premier while also campaigning for re-election.
He announced a few retaliatory measures as premier in recent days, including removing American products from Liquor Control Board of Ontario shelves and banning American companies from provincial contracts. He said Monday morning he would rip up a $100-million contract with Elon Musk's SpaceX to deliver high-speed internet to remote areas via Starlink satellite technology.
Those moves — including the Starlink cancellation he had touted hours earlier at a campaign event — were put on hold Monday afternoon after Trump spoke to Trudeau and agreed to a month-long reprieve.
As part of its re-election campaign, Ford's party also responded to the tariff threat by announcing big-ticket stimulus spending measures worth tens of billions of dollars that they would not be able to implement until after election day on Feb. 27.
At an election announcement earlier on Monday, Ford bristled at a suggestion that an early election call was reckless because he wouldn't be able to effectively respond to any tariffs implemented during the campaign.
"We're going to do everything we can as we're standing here," he said. "If any emergencies come, I'll reconvene cabinet. That's not an unusual request."
As premier, he also continued an American media blitz that he began last year, part of his attempts to convince Trump to back down from his tariff threat.
As PC leader, Ford has said a re-elected Tory government would significantly expand the Skills Development Fund for training and employment programs as well as infrastructure spending, as part of a stimulus package.
The party also announced Monday, in response to the expected tariffs, that they would put $10 billion toward support for employers through a six-month deferral of provincially administered taxes on Ontario businesses and $3 billion toward payroll tax and premium relief. They pledged $600 million for a fund aimed at attracting investments and $300 million to expand an Ontario manufacturing tax credit, among several other measures.
Ford has justified calling the snap $189-million election by saying he needs a new mandate to fight tariffs and spend billions in response, but the other parties say the campaign is unnecessary because they would agree to work together on stimulus spending.
The election is "an attempt to cling to power," Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie said in Kitchener, Ont.
"Why, when you know there's a threat coming with an incoming president rattling the sabre of punitive economic measures including tariffs, would you choose this moment to go to an election call?" she said prior to the the tariff reversal on Monday afternoon.
Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said Ford is "playing politics" with tariffs and it's wrong.
"We shouldn't even be in an election right now because we should all be working together to have a united front against Trump," he said.
"Then for the premier to use essentially government announcements to advantage him in the campaign is not good for democracy."
NDP Leader Marit Stiles noted that the government should technically be in caretaker mode during a campaign.
"I would also cancel the Starlink deal," she said. "Whether (Ford) has the ability to do that right now, in the middle of an election where he's not really the premier, is a different story."
The Liberals wrote earlier to the secretary of cabinet, chief electoral officer and integrity commissioner, arguing that Ford planning to go ahead with a scheduled visit to Washington, D.C., this month with other premiers to advocate against tariffs is inappropriate during an election campaign.
The integrity commissioner and secretary of cabinet said the trip meets the caretaker convention's criteria of being urgent and in the public interest, and the chief electoral officer said he would have to assess any expenses for appropriateness after the fact.
Crombie announced her plan to fight potential tariffs Monday, which includes offering a $150,000 bonus to Canadian doctors and nurses working in the U.S. if they come back here to work, establishing a Fight Tariffs Fund to give Ontario businesses lower interest rates, and eliminating interprovincial trade barriers.
Stiles was also talking tariffs Monday, saying if her party forms government she would implement a federal-provincial income support program, direct agencies to procure locally and create new supply chains for trade-exposed industries.
However, the NDP plan to protect Ontario from the effects of possible U.S. tariffs did not come with any dollar figures attached.
When asked about costing, she said an NDP government would work in lockstep with the federal government to deliver the stimulus.
Speaking in Oshawa, Ont., Stiles said Ford can't be trusted to protect workers because he "gave up" in 2018 when General Motors announced it would stop producing cars and trucks in the city east of Toronto.
More production was ultimately secured, but Stiles said the people of Oshawa won't forget that in 2018 Ford said there was nothing the province could do to prevent the shutdown.
Schreiner was in Kitchener, Ont., to announce the Green Party's housing plan that includes allowing fourplexes across the province, homes with six units in large cities, and midrise buildings of six to 11 storeys on transit corridors and main streets.
He also pledged to remove development charges on homes under 2,000 square feet and remove the land transfer tax for first-time homebuyers.
— With files from Sharif Hassan in Oshawa and Jordan Omstead in Kitchener.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 3, 2025.
Allison Jones and Liam Casey, The Canadian Press
