
Ontario Premier Doug Ford speaks during Question Period at the Ontario Legislature on December 5th, 2024.(Screen shot)
Ontario Premier Doug Ford says the focus should be on China as a bad actor rather than having trade disputes between Canada and the United States as allies.
Ford made the comments in an appearance on Fox News as incoming U.S. President Donald Trump continues to maintain his pledge to impose tariffs on Canadian imports and persists in his talk of merging Canada with the United States, saying he may use “economic force” to achieve it.
Trump has repeatedly quipped about making Canada the “51st” U.S. state since his November 2024 meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whom he has called the “governor” of Canada on multiple occasions.
In addition to absorbing Canada, Trump expressed interest in U.S. control over the Panama Canal and Greenland. He criticized Panama for “abusing that gift” by allowing China to operate the canal, which was built by the United States in the early 1900s. Beijing controls two of Panama’s five principal ports—at Balboa on the Pacific side and at Cristobal on the Atlantic side—through the Hong Kong-based Hutchison Port Holdings.
Fortress Am-Can
At the Jan. 8 press conference Ford proposed a new energy systems alliance between Ontario and the United States in a bid to avert a trade war between Canada and its southern neighbour.
It would also include streamlining the approval of new small modular and large nuclear reactors, Ford said, emphasizing Ontario’s existing nuclear infrastructure and its planned small modular reactors.
Ford would also like to see the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve further enhanced as part of the Am-Can energy initiative to protect both countries from global oil price manipulation.
The premier is also suggesting the establishment of a cross-border working group with U.S. and Canadian lawmakers and energy and security experts to ensure both countries adhere to best practices for power system security against foreign interference, cyber attacks, terrorism and extreme weather events.
Ford has been touting the benefits of tighter Canada-U.S. relations since Trump first broached the subject of tariffs in November. Aside from “speaking regularly” to his counterparts in the U.S., Ford has made a number of U.S. network television appearances where he emphasized the importance of the Canada-U.S. relationship.
Ford’s latest press conference comes a month after he vowed Ontario would cut off energy exports to the United States if Trump moves ahead with 25 percent tariffs on all Canadian products.