Ontario Premier Doug Ford says that Prime Minister Mark Carney was right to walk away from an “absolutely terrible deal” with the U.S. government. Ford made the comment during a speech at the Toronto Region Board of Trade on Thursday, where he also announced expanded eligibility for two tariff relief programs for impacted businesses and workers in Ontario. “Folks, when I heard about the deal, it was an absolutely terrible deal that would have destroyed our economy from top to bottom. It was a deal that would have hurt Canadian workers, undermined Canadian sovereignty and caused permanent damage to Canadian businesses that employ hundreds of thousands of workers across our country and province,” Ford said of the proposed trade agreement that the Canadian government walked away from last month. Earlier this week, Canadian counter-tariffs of between 15 to 50 per cent on nearly $28 billion of U.S. goods formally took effect. Since then, U.S. President Donald Trump has responded by announcing plans to ban the import of Canadian alcohol and a range of other products, including motorcycles, mattresses and some dairy products. During his speech, Ford said that Ontario would be expanding eligibility for both the Protect Ontario Financing Program and the Ontario Together Trade Fund to workers and businesses in those sectors to help them “keep their lights on and keep workers on the job.” The $1-billion Protect Ontario Financing Program gives loans for businesses to use for payroll, lease and utility payments while the $150-million Ontario Together Trade Fund is targeted towards small- and medium-sized businesses and provides grants to help them expand into new markets and reduce their reliance on the American supply chain. “Our government is going to do whatever it takes to protect workers, businesses and communities from anything else President Trump throws at us,” Ford said. Ford said during his speech that he supports Carney’s decision to respond to the latest U.S. tariffs with “dollar-for-dollar” counter tariffs. But he warned that “we have to be prepared to withstand the pain” that comes with showing Trump “that Canada will stand up for itself.” He said that going forward Canada must “build new relationships with reliable partners around the world and here at home.” “Folks, we got rid off all the exceptions. We got rid of everything and said welcome to Ontario, let’s start doing business. But there are still a few provinces that have a protectionist mentality and want to protect a product, be it wine, or the fisheries,” Ford said, noting that by removing all interprovincial trade barriers Canada could add $200 billion to its economy. “You don’t grow that way. You grow by opening up the market around Canada.” With files from The Canadian Press
