Trump's no. 1 Canadian enemy: Doug Ford embraces his role as antagonist

Ford said the ad will be paused from Monday to allow trade talks to resume but will still air over the weekend during the first two World Series games in Toronto

By Nojoud Al Mallees

 

The premier of Canada’s most powerful province — and arguably the country’s most successful politician today — has gotten under Donald Trump’s skin again. 

An anti-tariff ad launched by Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s government prompted Trump to lash out Thursday night, announcing all trade negotiations with Canada had been halted. The ad uses excerpts from a 1987 speech by former President Ronald Reagan, in which he defended free trade and criticized the idea tariffs lead to economic gains.

 

Trump’s eruption followed his more muted reaction earlier in the week, when he said, “If I was Canada, I’d take that same ad also.” Ford told reporters at the time he was sure Trump “wasn’t too happy” about the ad, and said he hopes “Reagan Republicans” will win against “the MAGA group” in the debate over protectionist trade policies. 

 

 

Ford announced Friday afternoon that the ad will be paused as of Monday so that trade talks can resume. But it will air over the weekend during the first two World Series baseball games, which will take place in Toronto.

 

“Our intention was always to initiate a conversation about the kind of economy that Americans want to build and the impact of tariffs on workers and businesses. We’ve achieved our goal, having reached US audiences at the highest levels,” Ford said in a post on social media. 

Ford’s political style has at times made him a Canadian mirror image of Trump — earlier this year, he popularized a MAGA-style blue hat emblazoned with the words, “Canada Is Not For Sale.”

 

The Ontario premier has maintained a strong relationship with Prime Minister Mark Carney, even as the federal government has taken a more diplomatic approach to dealing with the president. Ford acknowledged earlier this week that it’s easier for him to attack Trump than it is for the prime minister. 

 

“It might be a little easier for me to sit here and say what I say, but it’s a lot tougher when someone’s sitting across from Donald Trump and he has a big hammer in his hand,” he said. 

 

But Ford didn’t always feel that way about the president. Earlier this year, he was caught on a hot mic saying that he was happy when Trump was elected.

 

“Then the guy pulled out the knife,” and “yanked it into us,” Ford told supporters at a campaign event, using an expletive.

 

Ford had a career in business, working at a label and tag company started by his father, before entering political office at the municipal level in Toronto. He served on the city council when when his brother, Rob Ford, was mayor. The younger Ford made international headlines as mayor in 2013 when a video emerged of him smoking crack cocaine. He fell ill with cancer in 2014 and died in 2016.