QUEEN'S PARK -- Ontario Premier Doug Ford is using the growing threat of western Canadian separation to raise money for his own party, suggesting that his Progressive Conservative government will have a “big role to play” in national unification.
In a fundraising email sent to party supporters Monday, Ford says he’s “never seen the country so divided” and states that provinces should be focused on “competing against the world, not each other.”
“(Alberta is) paying into government that’s put a great big carbon tax on everything that makes money in the province and is trying to shut down their energy industry,” Ford said in the email.
“The same goes for Saskatchewan. How are they supposed to feel like they’re getting a fair deal?”
The two-dollar fundraising pitch from Ford comes as Wexit, a blend of the words “western and exit,” slowly takes root in Alberta and Saskatchewan in the wake of a federal election in which Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party was shut out of the two provinces.
Over the weekend, roughly 700 people attended a rally in Edmonton, while a group calling itself Wexit Alberta announced Monday that it has filed paperwork with Elections Canada to become an official federal party.
Ford, in his fundraising email, suggested that he can leverage his relationships with Alberta Premier Jason Kenny and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe to help bridge the gap and unite the country.
“I’m good friends with these premiers. Out west, and in Quebec too,” Ford writes. “If Trudeau doesn’t get this right, some really big problems are going to get a whole lot worse.”
“We’ve got to look out for the whole country, not just ourselves,” Ford writes.
The email then provides a link asking for a two dollar donation.
