In a game of chicken with President Trump, Ontario Premier Doug Ford blinked first.
The populist politician, 60, backed down from a 25% energy surcharge ahead of talks with the US — after threatening to “shut off electricity completely” if the trade war escalated on Sunday.
Ford has drawn comparisons to President Trump, 78, in recent months, especially with his uncompromising response to the war of words between Washington and Ottawa.
Ford, the brother of the late notorious crack-smoking Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, has used robust Trump-like language in the wake of the ratcheting up of tensions between the US and Canada, which has seen Trump brand former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “Governor Trudeau” and refer to the country as the “51st state,” not to mention raising tariffs on Canadian metals to 50%.
The premier of Canada’s most populous territory announced last week he was pulling American-made liquor off the shelves, as well as threatening the US power supply.
“If they start hurting families anywhere in Canada, especially Ontario, well, the lights are going off,” Ford warned.
However, he rode back on the promises on Tuesday, following “productive” emergency talks with US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick.
“Howard Lutnick and Premier of Ontario Doug Ford had a productive conversation about the economic relationship between the United States and Canada. Secretary Lutnick agreed to officially meet with Premier Ford in Washington on Thursday, March 13 alongside the United States Trade Representative to discuss a renewed USMCA ahead of the April 2 reciprocal tariff deadline,” Ford’s office said in a statement posted on X.
“Ontario agreed to suspend its 25 per cent surcharge on exports of electricity to Michigan, New York and Minnesota,” it added.
Ford has previously praised Trump, telling supporters he was “100%” happy he had won the election just last month and sharing his skepticism toward elites and bureaucrats.
Ford rode his notorious late brother Rob’s coattails to success, taking over his former seat in the suburban Ontario heartlands known as “Ford Country.”
Rob Ford died in March 2016 at age 46 after a colorful political career, to say the least.
Some highlights included knocking over an elderly woman while rushing to help his brother, who was insulting spectators in the City Council chamber, threatening “murder” in a profane, incoherent rant, insulting his own police chief and trying to imitate a Jamaican accent.
But none of those scandals, not even his being caught smoking crack cocaine in 2013, could diminish his popularity among his base.
Ford eventually admitted to smoking crack, “probably in one of my drunken stupors.”
Even after the scandal broke about his drug use and he lost his mayoral office, he was elected to a City Council seat in a landslide, a post he held until his death.
Doug Ford has had his own share of scandals — his government is currently being investigated over its relationships with shady property developers, and he doesn’t share the same popularity his brother did with working-class Toronto residents.
Born into wealth, Doug’s father, Doug Sr., co-founded a company that made plastic wrapping for grocery products.
But Doug has made his career as a populist politician, mocking Canada’s elites for drinking “champagne with their pinkies in the air” during his successful run for Ontario premier in 2018.
He paid tribute to his late brother in his victory speech, two years after Rob died.
“I know my brother is looking down from heaven,” he said. “I’m just getting chills talking about him right now. I know Rob is celebrating with us tonight. We owe so much to Rob’s legacy.”
With an embattled Trudeau out of the picture and his successor, Mark Carney, looking to win the upcoming elections, Ford, as a center-right populist in Canada’s most populous province, could play a crucial role in the country’s future, with all eyes on his relationship with Trump.
As Doug made clear in his speech, he was a Trump supporter — until “the guy pulled out the knife and f–king yanked it into us.”
