Ontario Premier Doug Ford has confirmed he's calling an early election that will begin on Wednesday.
Ford currently holds a strong majority in the legislature, and the next scheduled vote is not until June 2026 — but the premier said he needs a strong mandate to fight against U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed tariffs.
"We need a mandate from the people to fight against Donald Trump's tariffs," he said at a press conference at Brampton City Hall. "The attack is coming against our families, our businesses, our communities, and with a strong mandate, we will be able to fight with Donald Trump to make sure we stop the tariffs and make sure that we give certainty to the people of Ontario."
"It may take investing tens of billions of dollars," he added, comparing the severity of the tariff threat and the required response to the COVID-19 pandemic. "We'll do tens of billions of dollars."
Ford spent much of the press conference justifying his decision to send Ontarians to the polls early.
He was asked if he is worried that he won't get the stronger mandate that he argues is essential for defeating the tariff threat, with one journalist asking him if he is scared by "the ghost of David Peterson." The Liberal former Ontario premier triggered an early election in 1990 as he, like Ford, was riding high in the polls. Peterson, like Ford, said he called the election to protect the province during a time of national uncertainty.
Peterson was accused of political opportunism, and the NDP was elected with a majority government.
"I love you media, you guys are classic," Ford replied. "But 35 years ago, he woke up and decided to call an election. He wasn't facing the largest attack in the history of our country, an attack against our families."
While the opposition parties have tried to make the case that Ford is trying to outrun the ongoing RCMP investigation into his Greenbelt scandal, journalists asked Ford about other potential political calculations at play.
One journalist asked if he was trying to get ahead of the federal election, which is widely expected to see Conservative Pierre Poilievre elected this spring and could see cuts that affect Ontario.
Ford said he was not.
"Well, my job, when we hopefully get a big mandate, is going to be standing up to any federal government that wants to cut health care from Ontario, cut jobs from Ontario, to tax people from Ontario," he said. “You need to have a loud voice, and the only way you have that voice is having the largest mandate we could ever give to our PC Party.”
The premier was also asked about how he’d called Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to call a snap election in 2021 during the pandemic “unnecessary” and whether he was putting a provincial election before the potential tariff war.
“Let's make it very clear, every single day during this election, I'll still be premier,” Ford responded, saying he’s set to join his fellow premiers through the Council of the Federation on a trip to Washington, D.C. on Feb. 11 and 12 and will return to the U.S. on Feb. 20. He added that he’ll be virtually meeting with the premiers and the prime minister each week.
Asked how he’d get to the U.S. given the trips will be during the election campaign, Ford said the party will pay.
The upcoming election will be Ford’s third as PC leader.
It follows unfulfilled promises from the previous two campaigns, including ending hallway health care and implementing a 20 per cent middle-income tax cut. When asked about this, Ford highlighted his government’s actions while in power since 2018.
“Let me put it this way: that people will have a choice in the next 30 days if they want to go backwards to the dark days and the gloom and doom that we all experienced in 15 years under the Liberal and NDP rule,” said Ford, going on to tout the building of transit, new medical schools and foreign investment in the economy.
Meanwhile, opposition parties decried Ford’s plan to call an early election, accusing the premier of putting himself before Ontarians and vowing to do better.
“While our province faces a grave threat with half a million jobs at risk, Doug Ford sees an opportunity to fight for one job — his own,” said NDP Leader Marit Stiles in a statement on Friday.
“He thinks he can con Ontarians with an early election to escape his record — but we won’t let him.”
Stiles questioned Ford’s ability to fight Trump’s threatened tariffs.
“How can we trust him to stand up against Donald Trump and his billionaires when he can’t deliver on making life more affordable, getting people a family doctor, or building more homes?” she said.
Liberal leader Bonnie Crombie called the election call a “very self-interested and self-vested move” in a video posted on social media.
“He's answering chaos … by creating more chaos at a time where we need stability and certainty,” she said.
Green Party leader Mike Schreiner echoed the comments, saying the province “needs stability, not an election.”
“We need to demonstrate strength through unity to defend Canadian workers, Canadian jobs and Canadian companies,” he said. “All the things that a provincial government should do — build affordable homes, make sure we have doctors and nurses, safe schools — Doug Ford has walked away from, putting profits before people.”
Ford will visit Lt.-Gov. Edith Dumont on Tuesday, kicking off a campaign that will begin the following day. Election day will be Feb. 27.
