Ontario Liberals, labour groups criticize Ford over snap election call and misusing public funds

Open this photo in gallery:

The Ontario Liberal Party is warning about Premier Doug Ford’s potential misuse of public funds during the early election campaign he is set to trigger this week, saying his planned government-funded engagements to respond to potential U.S. tariffs could inappropriately reap political benefits.

Labour groups, meanwhile, say the election call will distract from Ontario’s efforts to address U.S. President Donald Trump’s threatened 25-per-cent tariffs, which could begin as early as Saturday.

Mr. Ford confirmed last week that he will launch a snap election campaign on Wednesday, with voters expected to head to the polls on Feb. 27. The next election date under provincial legislation is June, 2026.

The Premier, whose Progressive Conservative Party is already leading in the polls, has said he would campaign while continuing to conduct government business. That includes by travelling twice to Washington in February to lobby American lawmakers, and by continuing to serve as the head of the Council of the Federation (COF), representing the country’s provincial premiers in addressing U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat of tariffs.

But Liberal MPP John Fraser, in a Friday letter sent to Ontario’s Secretary of Cabinet, the chief electoral officer and the integrity commissioner, said using public funds toward such engagements would violate the conventions of the “caretaker government,” which is formed ad hoc to perform some functions while elections are under way. During the caretaker period, elected officials are prohibited from using public funds for continuing political work or public engagement.

Mr. Fraser said his Washington trips and COF participation would be inappropriate, as they could be “raised as a political issue during the election” and “in the context of an early election, this work would be explicitly partisan in nature.”

The PC Party did not respond to a request for comment on Sunday.

Another source of criticism of Mr. Ford ahead of his planned early election is the Ontario Federation of Labour, which represents 54 unions and one million workers in Ontario. It is leading the call for the Ford government to establish a tariff task force and create a unified strategy to address the economic threat facing the province, rather than send voters to the polls.

“Doug Ford’s decision to shut down the legislature – destabilizing the province in favour of heading to the polls for his own political gain – is opportunistic, reckless, and irresponsible,” said Laura Walton, president of the OFL, in a press release Monday.

Mr. Ford has argued that he needs a “strong mandate” to implement an aid package with “tens of billions” of dollars in spending to support workers and businesses affected by potential U.S. tariffs, which he has said could cost Ontario up to 500,000 jobs.

Ms. Walton was joined by other labour leaders in condemning the Premier’s election decision. JP Hornick, president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, said it was not a “bold move” to confront Mr. Trump’s threats but instead “a decision to do nothing for a month.”

Fred Hahn, president of CUPE Ontario, accused the Premier of “trying to distract us from his record of failure as Premier.” And Erin Ariss, provincial president of the Ontario Nurses’ Association, said continuing issues such as the shortage of nurses were being overlooked in favour of political manoeuvring.

Their statements lacked specifics on actionable solutions aside from creating a co-ordinated policy and pointing to examples of other provinces that have already brought together tariff roundtables. The OFL said that more detail is set to be provided by its leaders on Monday morning.