Ontario Premier Doug Ford repeatedly refused to rule out an early election and stuck doggedly to his talking points during a brief appearance on Monday as the resignation of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau threatened to uproot political plans in the province.
Ford was asked five times by reporters if the threat of tariffs from president-elect Donald Trump, coupled with the potential chaos of a Liberal leadership race in Ottawa, would push him to rule out an early election in 2025.
“What I can tell you is I’m 100 per cent focused on the tariffs, on reaching out to the governors and Congress people and senators, business leaders in the U.S.,” Ford said in response to a question asking if he would take an early election “off the table” after recent news.
“I’m hearing a lot about our positive ads and I can tell you, the problem is not Canada.”
The premier was speaking hours after Trudeau announced he would resign as Liberal leader and prime minister once his successor has been chosen.
Ford was asked four more times if he would rule out an election at least before the federal ballot and if he feared an early election call could harm his party’s chances at the polls.
In response to each question, the premier moved straight to the topic of the U.S. tariff threat and how he wanted to see the possibility of 25 per cent levies on Canadian goods addressed.
“My main focus is these tariffs right now,” he said in response to one question, later adding, “We’re going to continue working hard, building that relationship with the Congress people that sit on certain committees.”
Potential early election rumours and speculation have persisted in Ontario for the best part of a year because Premier Ford has repeatedly refused to rule the possibility out.
Last year, the premier dodged the question of an early election at several events, eventually confirming he wouldn’t call one in 2024 but glossing over the issue of 2025. Presented with the opportunity to put the question to bed on Monday, Ford again chose not to.
Political experts, however, think it is unlikely Ford would launch an early election while federal politics is in turmoil and the threat of tariffs from the U.S. remains.
“Given the political instability in Ottawa and the political instability caused by what’s now coming out of Washington, I do think the premier’s calculus has changed quite substantially,” Jamie Ellerton, founding partner at Conaptus, said.
“I think it injects a massive degree of political instability and a potential risk that wasn’t there as recently as six weeks ago, and perhaps (it) will give him pause to consider going to the polls early.”
John Wright, a veteran pollster, described Ford as “a very pragmatic individual” and said he was likely to be reevaluating any plans for an early election call.
“I think it is a time-honoured tradition of premiers often to not give a sense of when they might go to the election polls,” he told Global News.
“I think if there were people advocating for the premier to go early, it really is compromised this spring. You’re going to have the Liberal convention as a backdrop, there will be a (federal) election that will follow in June, maybe sooner than that… but I would think at the moment it’s been diminished in terms of if he was going to go.”
Ontario Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie called for “stability” from Ford and said he should commit to a fixed election date to ensure that can be achieved.