TORONTO — Ontario Premier Doug Ford formally set a provincial election in movement Tuesday for Feb. 27, greater than a 12 months earlier than the following mounted election date.
The election had been set for June 2026, however Ford mentioned he wants a brand new mandate to cope with 4 years of a Donald Trump presidency in the US.
Ford has mentioned Trump’s risk to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian items would hit Ontario and its auto sector arduous, and the provincial authorities would want to spend tens of billions of {dollars} to guard jobs and the financial system.
Cupboard has mentioned an “financial motion plan” to reply to tariffs from the US, the premier mentioned earlier Tuesday.
Officers say the financial motion plan has not but been permitted by cupboard and subsequently will not be applied throughout the marketing campaign — and Ford as an alternative advised it will likely be rolled out as bulletins.
“We wish to transfer ahead and guarantee that we give certainty,” Ford mentioned.
“Proper now, President Trump … has put uncertainty to each single Canadian, a whole lot of different international locations around the globe, and this is not going to occur in a single day. It could not occur Feb. 1, I am certain one thing’s coming, however that is going to be a battle for the following 4 years, and I wish to guarantee that I’ve a robust mandate to outlast President Trump.”
Inexperienced Social gathering Chief Mike Schreiner mentioned merely asserting such a plan as soon as tariffs are in place does not make sense.
“If the premier has an financial motion plan able to go, why not simply implement it?” Schreiner wrote in a press release. “Why not work throughout occasion traces to guard Ontario staff, Ontario jobs and Ontario firms?”
NDP Chief Marit Stiles mentioned the specter of tariffs is exactly why Ontario shouldn’t be plunged into an election marketing campaign proper now.
“Whereas the individuals of Ontario are anxious in regards to the grave risk of tariffs, Doug Ford is pursuing his personal political achieve,” she wrote in a press release. “Individuals want a premier who will struggle like hell for each single job that’s in danger, not run to the polls over a 12 months early.”
Opposition events have insisted an early election isn’t mandatory, as a result of they’d assist stimulus spending and Ford already has a mandate after voters handed him a big majority final time. Going to the polls now’s opportunism to capitalize on good polling, they cost.
“Doug Ford’s Ontario has failed you,” Liberal Chief Bonnie Crombie wrote in a press release. “He’s losing $175 million on an early election as an alternative of utilizing it to repair our damaged health-care system and make your life extra reasonably priced.”
The premier visited the lieutenant-governor Tuesday to dissolve the provincial legislature, and writs ordering elections in all 124 of the province’s electoral districts are to be issued on Wednesday.
Ford has mentioned he wants the “largest mandate in Ontario’s historical past.”
His Progressive Conservatives gained 83 seats within the 2022 election, although that now stands at 79 as a result of numerous resignations.
Ford has mentioned he plans to proceed performing in his capability as premier, together with visiting Washington, D.C., in February with a gaggle of different premiers, whereas additionally campaigning as chief of the Progressive Conservatives.
Critics have mentioned he should not marketing campaign and act as premier on the similar time, however Ford has dismissed that.
“I am the premier,” Ford mentioned Tuesday morning.
“I’ll work arduous, which I’ve been, 18 hours a day, to verify our province is affluent and we’ve got financial improvement, and ensure we’ve got a loud voice once we’re negotiating in opposition to these tariffs.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first printed Jan. 28, 2025.
Allison Jones and Liam Casey, The Canadian Press
