'Let the people decide', Ford says of any potential stimulus spending amid Trump tariff threat

Premier Doug Ford remains tight-lipped on whether he will call for an early election in Ontario, but said if incoming president Donald Trump’s threatened tariffs take effect -- and the province needs to approve a stimulus bill to support the economy -- a vote would be necessary.

Ford made the comment during an unrelated news conference on Monday after he was asked whether support from opposition parties on the response to potential tariffs would “negate” the need for an early election.

“Marit Stiles and Bonnie Crombie, they are obviously not worried about spending tens of billions of dollars and getting approval from the people, getting a mandate from the people...They may think it’s just OK to go ahead and throw off our fiscal plan moving forward, I don’t think that,” Ford said Monday.

“I think, if it comes to it, and we have to spend tens of billions of dollars, we go to the people. Let the people decide.”

The next scheduled Ontario election is set for June 2026 and Ford, so far, has not committed to that timeline.

He was asked explicitly on Monday whether he would call an election should the tariffs be put in place and only said “let’s take a look at what happens on Jan. 20...”

“It all depends on what sort of tariffs he is putting in there,” he said.

President elect Donald Trump has threatened to impose a 25 per cent tariff on goods imported from Canada and Mexico to the U.S. if both countries don’t address what he’s described as the illegal flow of drugs and migrants across the borders.

Ford has said those tariffs would be devastating to Ontario’s economy, underscoring that “the bullseye” is on the backs of hardworking workers in the province.

The premier has vowed to unleash a “strong list” of retaliatory measures should Trump’s tax come to pass, including cutting off energy to the 1.5 million homes it powers in Michigan, New York state and Minnesota.

Earlier in the day, Crombie accused Ford of “clinging to power” amid the early election rumours.

“Donald Trump and his tariffs should be treated as a threat, not as an excuse for an illegitimate early election call,” she said.

For her part, Stiles said Ford already has a mandate and doesn’t need to seek a new one.

“It is your job to fight like hell for every single job in the province of Ontario and I’m here to say: ‘I’ll work with you on that. You don’t need to go to the polls. We got this,’” she said.

Polls show Ford’s PCs lead Liberals by 10 points

Amid the early election speculation, a new poll shows Ford’s Progressive Conservatives lead the Liberals by 10 points.

The survey results, published by Liaison Strategies on Monday, found that 40 per cent of decided and leaning voters would cast their ballot for the PCs if an election was held today.

Meanwhile, the gap between the governing party and the Liberals appears to be closing, with 30 per cent saying they’d vote for Crombie – a three per cent increase over last week.

Liaison Strategies says there are a number of factors that may have influenced the numbers, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s recent announcement that he would resign as federal Liberal leader, incoming president Donald Trump’s threat of annexing Canada, and Ford’s decision not to rule out an early election.

“However, it remains to be seen whether this increase in Liberal support is sustainable,” David Valentin, principal at Liaison Strategies, said in a news release, noting that the increase in support for Crombie could be an outlier, a temporary bump, or the start of a new trend.

Support for the official opposition, Stiles’ New Democratic Party, sits at 21 per cent of decided and leaning voters, according to the poll.

Valentin said one in five voters is undecided.

The poll surveyed 1,202 Ontario voters with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.82 per cent, 19 times out of 20.