WASHINGTON, D.C. — Doug Ford brought his campaign to Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, hoping to change President Donald Trump’s mind on tariffs as well as the hearts and minds of Ontario voters.
The Ontario PC leader, who is in the middle of a campaign for re-election, went to the U.S. capital to take meetings with American representatives and address the business sector.
The events came a day after Trump announced a 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum. But while the PC leader has aggressively defended Canada amid the U.S.’s first round of tariffs — even promising to rip up contracts, remove American alcohol and ban U.S. procurement in Ontario — he took a softer tone while south of the border.
Instead, he touted his “Fortress Am-Can” plan, a building block of his election campaign that calls for a greater and closer relationship between the United States and Canada.
The plan, unveiled in full via a glossy 20-page booklet with the government of Ontario logo printed on it, was handed out at a speech and fireside chat with Neil Herrington, senior vice president for the Americas department at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
The crowd was largely Canadian, with business leaders and mayors flying down to hear Ford speak. He struck a less combative tone during this speech than campaign events just a week prior, choosing to focus less on the destructive nature of tariffs and more on the importance of decoupling from China, while using the opportunity to air his grievances about the Canadian federal government’s policies.
This included his call to scrap the digital services tax and the carbon tax, reach NATO spending commitments and reform bail.
The term “Am-Can” was thrown around in the speech over a dozen times and used not only as a noun, but also an adjective describing the economy, workers, land and energy, among other things.
“Friends, this is Fortress Am-Can,” Ford said. “It's a vision that respects each country as proudly independent, and it celebrates what we can achieve together. Let's stop wasting time and energy and effort fighting each other, threatening tariffs that will only hurt workers, hurt businesses and cost more for families.”
When asked to address the steel and aluminum tariffs, Ford simply said he was “disappointed.”
“I'm the type of person when you give someone your word and you shake their hand, not that I shook the president's hand, but when you shake their hand, it's golden. You do not move from those rules,” he said.
While the friendly faces in the room applauded Ford’s speech and fireside chat — which included softball questions about the PC leader’s vision for permitting reform, his proposed procurement ban for China and “discriminatory” taxes from the federal government — others appeared unconvinced.
Eric Miller, President of Rideau Potomac Strategy Group, a consulting firm that advises governments and companies on cross border trade issues, told reporters he doesn’t think the idea of a “Fortress Am-Can” is going to resonate with the new U.S. president.
“I give the premier huge credit for coming to try to fight the good fight, but I'm not sure much can change Donald Trump's mind,” he said.
When asked by The Trillium if he had spoken with anyone within the U.S. administration about tariff concerns, Miller said he had, but there is a “not a great deal of knowledge around how the supply chain actually functions.”
“There is a very defined view among people around President Trump, around the vision for tariffs on the whole world,” he said.
“It's very, very difficult to convince them that they're on a path of falling. And so they will have to find out. And unfortunately, Canada will have to endure pain in that process of the United States finding out.”
Later on Tuesday, Ford is expected to meet with Republican representatives, including Congresswoman Lisa McClain of Michigan, Congressman Rob Wittman of Virginia, and Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota. He will also take part in meetings Wednesday with the Council of the Federation, which he chairs.
No breakdown has been provided as to who premiers will be meeting on Wednesday.
Speaking with reporters, Ford appeared convinced that talking to further representatives and making a trip to Washington, especially during an election campaign, could make a difference.
“The White House knows we're down here,” he said without elaborating when asked whether he had met with anyone within Trump’s administration. “I can't speak for the president, but I think everyone knows minds can change.”
The "Fortress Am-Can” booklet specifies that the PC government met with “incoming cabinet secretaries and advisors to the new administration. CBC News is reporting that he spoke with Commerce Secretary nominee Howard Lutnick and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, but Ford’s office refused to confirm this fact.
The PC Party paid for the trip, including chartering a plane and covering the costs of hotels for Ford and the staff travelling with him.
At the same time, Ford didn’t bill this as a campaign event, saying that he was at the event as “premier.”
“I'm still the premier of Ontario until I’m no longer the premier of Ontario. But let's hope that doesn't happen.”
Back in Ontario, NDP Leader Marit Stiles told Chamber of Commerce Greater Kitchener-Waterloo CEO Ian McLean that Ontario and Canada need to "protect ourselves" by re-evaluating supply chains and "our overwhelming reliance on the United States.”
She argued that Canada integrating its economy further with the U.S., as Ford suggests, is “the wrong approach.”
"We have friends out there and they are getting hit too — and if they aren't now, they will be — and we need to make sure we are preparing, and working closely with Ontario industries and workers, to make sure we tariff-proof our future. We are in a vulnerable position right now, and the wrong approach is to go deeper down that road."
Stiles called it "unfortunate" that Ford appeared to be suggesting that Ontario supports the changes that Trump is implementing in the United States, and demonstrates how sympathetic Ford is to Trump's controversial policies.
"Doug Ford's message to Americans does not reflect how most Canadians, and certainly not the people of Ontario, feel right now. We are not feeling very generous right now to Donald Trump," she said.
Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie, meanwhile, accused Ford of abandoning his post by travelling to the U.S. while campaigning.
"There's not another premier in Washington right now at that table that would entertain holding an election and then leaving to go to Washington."
— With files from Alan S. Hale