“We’re asking for your vote, we’re asking for a mandate. We need the largest mandate in Ontario’s history to move this province forward.”
Premier Doug Ford has finally put an end to the speculation that has been swirling for weeks. Speaking this morning in Brampton to promote his transit initiatives, Ford confirmed that he will officially call an election next week. The premier said he would go to Lt. Gov. Edith Dumont on January 28th to dissolve his government, which would set the stage for Ontarians will go to the polls on February 27th.
The premier pointed to U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to implement 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods as justification for an early election, adding he is prepared to spend “tens of billions of dollars” to protect Ontario’s economy.
“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,” Ford said. “It’s no different than the pandemic. We’ll make sure we secure people’s livelihoods and I will do whatever it takes to protect the people of Ontario in turn because we are the engine of Canada protecting all Canadians. We will not back down.”
Ford maintained that he will still be premier “every single day during this election”, and vowed to continuing working with other premiers and the prime minister to ensure there is a retaliation plan in place.
“I’m a worker,” Ford said. “I’ll be working 20 hours a day as we go through this transition with these tariffs.”
A Leger poll for the National Post released earlier this week put Ford’s Progressive Conservatives 24 points ahead of the Liberals. The results indicate 46 per cent of poll respondents expressed support for the reigning Tories versus 22 per cent for Bonnie Crombie’s Liberals, 19 per cent for the NDP, just 7 per cent for the Green Party and 6 per cent other.
During this morning’s news conference, the premier took aim at the ability of the Liberal and NDP leaders to face off with Donald Trump.
“Imagine Bonnie Crombie or Marit Stiles sitting across from President Trump negotiating a deal. It would be an absolute disaster, and God help us if that ever happens.”
Last November, the Ontario government announced that it is partnering with Starlink to launch the new Ontario Satellite Internet (ONSAT) program, which will offer high-speed satellite internet access to 15,000 eligible unserved and underserved homes and businesses, including in rural, remote and northern communities, beginning in June 2025.
On January 23rd, the Ontario Liberal Party called on Ford to cancel the province’s plan to pay Elon Musk’s Starlink $100 million for the satellite internet hookups. Leader Bonnie Crombie issued a statement saying, “Why did Doug cozy up to Elon in the first place? This is a destructive man child who proudly styles his leadership after a dictator, and is championing the 25 per cent tariff on Canada.”
“I find it ironic that Bonnie Crombie is using Elon Musk’s social media (X), using it every single day and he’s making billions of dollars,” Ford fired back this morning. “Other companies couldn’t even handle the infrastructure, but I can assure you that we’ll keep an eye on that. We need to deliver internet as we promised. Under the Liberals, they did absolutely nothing. We’re making sure that every single person in Ontario is connected to the Internet. We are providing internet service to everyone across the province including First Nations communities in the far north. We’ll make sure they’re connected to the rest of the world.”
The Leger poll indicated that Ford’s Tories have sizable leads in southern, eastern and northern Ontario. The major issues for Ontario voters heading into the election include the cost of living, health care, affordable housing and crime.
Earlier this month, the province unveiled the Provincial Bail Compliance Dashboard which will allow police services to monitor, consolidate and share critical information related to individuals on bail for firearms-related offences. This morning, Ford emphasized that he takes a hard stand on repeat offenders out on bail.
“When we catch these criminals, guess what? They’re out on bail,” he stated. “They’re out on bail because we have some weak kneed – not all – weak kneed JPs, weak kneed judges, that after they kick your door in and they put a gun to your head, they get out on bail. They don’t get out on bail once, not twice, not three times, not four times – up to 8 times to get out and repeat that crime. If I was the federal government that controls the criminal code, I’d have mandatory sentences. You kick someone’s door in and put a gun to their head, you’re going to jail for 15 years. You’re not going to see the sunlight for 15 years. You watch how quickly those doors stop getting kicked in.”
For many in the north and near north, long hospital wait times and a lack of family doctors are priority issues heading into the election.
“We are investing more than any government in the history of this country into health care, increasing the health spending by over $33B, building new medical schools across the province, making sure that we build regular schools, adding 15K new doctors, registering 100K new nurses.”
Ford’s election announcement came as he discussed plans to expand transit in the province by extending the Hazel McCallion Line into downtown Brampton and Mississauga and plans to tunnel the Brampton portion of the segment. Earlier this week at the ROMA conference in Toronto, he touted his government’s ongoing plans to get the Northlander passenger train service between Timmins and Toronto up and running. The proposed route includes stops at Union Station (Toronto), Langstaff, Gormley, Washago, Gravenhurst, Bracebridge, Huntsville, South River, North Bay, Temagami, Timiskaming Shores, Englehart, Kirkland Lake (Swastika) Matheson and Timmins (South Porcupine) with a rail connection to Cochrane.
The snap election comes after a turbulent 2024 for Ford’s Conservatives, most notably the fallout from the Greenbelt scandal and the ongoing RCMP investigation. The government saw major slips in popularity polls, but Ford says he does not believe that he’s lost the confidence of voters. `
“To the total contrary – or the people of Canada as well. Right now, there’s a total lack of leadership at the federal level. And, at the federal level, we don’t know who’s going to be the next prime minister. Right now we need strong leadership in the country, we need strong leadership in this province, and we’re going to deliver that strong leadership for the people of Ontario.”
With Parliament Hill preparing for a federal election after a new Liberal Party leader is appointed, Ford stated he’s willing to stand up to, or stand with, whoever is elected prime minister – including Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre – to protect the people of Ontario.
Two trips to the U.S. are on Ford’s agenda during the campaign. He will be in Washington and February 11th , 12th and 20th.
