Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford is musing about making Americans pay more for the electricity Ontario sends to the United States, in response to any levies President Donald Trump imposes on Canadian goods and services.
“We’re reviewing the cost of electricity we’re sending down there. And if he puts tariffs on anything in Canada or Ontario, they’re getting a tariff on their electricity,” Ford said at a campaign stop in Ottawa on Tuesday.
“And then we‘ll go to the next stage and we’ll wait to see that happens from there.”
Ford gave no further details on the proposed measure, or how it would fit in with his previously announced plan to cut off energy exports to the U.S. should Trump move forward with sweeping tariffs now set to kick in next week.
Trump said Monday the tariffs, which were pushed back to March 4 after Canada agreed to introduce new security measures at the border, are “going forward on time, on schedule.”
His executive order calls for 25 percent tariffs on all Canadian imports, with a lower 10 percent levy on Canadian energy.
Ford said Tuesday that he doesn’t want a tariff war, “but if someone comes in and starts attacking our families, attacking our businesses and attacking everything we do in Canada, that’s it, I’m full in there.
“I’m in the ring and I'll do whatever it takes to make sure that we hit back and they feel the pain like we feel the pain.”
Ford has made economic stability in the face of possible tariffs the centrepiece of his campaign, arguing he needs a stronger mandate to navigate the next four years of a Trump presidency.
But the other party leaders have called the snap election unnecessary given that the Progressive Conservatives already held a majority and would have received support for stimulus measures.
Ford released his party’s official platform on Monday—just three days before election day—and it contains $40 billion worth of promises but not a full costing breakdown.
