Doug Ford heads to Washington during Ontario election campaign amid tariff threats

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Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford will travel to Washington, D.C., Tuesday to meet with U.S. lawmakers in a bid to promote the Canada-U.S. relationship amid the threat of economically devastating tariffs from the Trump administration.

Mr. Ford is travelling to the U.S. Capitol in his capacity as premier during the provincial campaign, in an unusual detour for a politician seeking re-election. Mr. Ford, who chairs the Council of the Federation representing Canada’s premiers, will also meet with fellow provincial and territorial leaders who will be in Washington on Wednesday to advocate for their respective jurisdictions.

The trip to the U.S. underscores Mr. Ford’s pitch to the public in advance of the Feb. 27 vote, as the only leader who can stand up to Mr. Trump’s tariff threats. The opposition parties, however, have accused him of concocting a scheme to go to the polls a year-and-a-half early instead of doing his job as premier during a time of turmoil.

Mr. Ford is set to speak to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Tuesday and later attend a reception hosted by Republican North Dakota Senator Kevin Cramer, one of U.S. President Donald Trump’s allies.

Mr. Ford’s opposition critics have charged he’s unfairly using his Washington trip to campaign. The Ontario PC Party is paying for Mr. Ford’s expenses, as well as all political staff accompanying him, campaign spokeswoman Grace Lee said.

Mr. Ford on Monday said his schedule is “jam-packed” with meetings, including with senators and members of Congress, and will focus on relationship-building and communication.

“We all know the U.S. knows that Canada needs the U.S., but what we’re going to communicate is everything the U.S. needs off of Canada, everything the U.S. needs off of Ontario,” Mr. Ford said Monday at a campaign stop in Oakville, Ont.

During his D.C. visit, Mr. Ford is set to promote his idea of a “Fortress Am-Can” to an American audience, pitching the strategic alliance between Canada and the U.S., including an integrated energy and electricity grid.

On Monday, Mr. Ford announced that a re-elected PC government would ban the use of Chinese parts from all future energy procurement, as well as bar Chinese state-owned enterprises from buying or taking equity in any Ontario government-funded energy and critical mineral projects, or any major infrastructure assets.

He said China is the biggest threat to North America’s economic success.

“China is playing by its own rules. It’s flooding markets, hijacking supply chains, undercutting our workers and threatening our industries. I’ll tell you right now, Ontario isn’t going to sit back and let it happen,” Mr. Ford said.

Mr. Trump has said he will announce plans Monday for 25-per-cent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports, including from Canada. Mr. Ford said the U.S. President remains unpredictable.

“We’re going to face this for four years. Shifting goalposts constantly, and constant chaos, all designed to hurt our economy and undermine our workers,” Mr. Ford said.

He said Ontario is in “constant communication” with the federal government along with his fellow premiers, and he has also spoken to the CEOs of steel companies Stelco Inc. and ArcelorMittal Dofasco. He added he’s going to wait and see what Mr. Trump proposes before reacting.

“If it’s damaging, we’re going to react hard and we’re going to react fast,” he said.

“If it comes our way – which [is] a fight we never started, a fight that we don’t want – but when someone you know gives you a pop in the nose, they’re going to get that pop twice as hard back,” he added.

He said Mr. Trump’s comments about annexing Canada are a “real thing.”

“This threat is real, and this threat will be real for the next four years.”

He also urged Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to immediately name a fentanyl czar, a position Mr. Trudeau said would soon be created after Mr. Trump last week delayed his previous threat of tariffs by 30 days.

“Name them now,” Mr. Ford said.