In the face of incoming U.S. president Donald Trump’s threat to acquire Canada, Ontario Premier Doug Ford is touting the strength of the province’s energy supply to generate revenue and jobs on both sides of the border.
“With a new administration set to take office in the White House, our government has an ambitious plan to build up Fortress Am-Can to usher in a new American and Canadian century defined by unprecedented growth, job creation and prosperity,” Ford said in a news release ahead of the Wednesday announcement.
Ford has previously threatened to cut off Ontario-supplied electricity that is currently powering 1.5 million homes in New York, Michigan and Minnesota but only as a “last resort” should Trump push ahead with a threat to slap a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian and Mexican goods.
On Wednesday, the provincial government struck a more collaborative tone, noting in the news release that Ontario is uniquely positioned to bring more jobs back to the U.S. as it “decouples from China” due to its supply of nuclear, hydroelectric and renewable energy. As part of the plan, Ford said he wants to enhance and build out the integrated energy and electric grid shared between the two countries.
“Fortress Am-Can should be powered by Am-Can energy of every type that’s produced, consumed and creates jobs in every region of both countries. With our fleet of nuclear power plants and the first small modular nuclear reactors in the G7, Ontario is uniquely positioned to power the future of Fortress Am-Can.”
In the Wednesday announcement made at the Darlington Energy Complex, Ford said his government is also recommending streamlining the approval process for new small modular and large nuclear reactors and developing new and reinforcing existing electricity and natural gas pathways.
Ford tells Trump that Canada is ‘not for sale’ in Fox News appearance
The announcement comes less than 24 hours after Ford appeared on another U.S. network to rebuff Trump’s threat of acquiring Canada as the 51st state.
“I get it. President-elect Trump is a real estate tycoon. He’s made billions. But that property is not for sale. It’s as simple as that,” Ford told Fox News’ Jesse Watters Tuesday night.
Ford has made a number of U.S. network television appearance touting the importance of the Canada-U.S. trade relationship in recent weeks, including another appearance on CNN on Monday night.
His appearance on Fox News came after a Tuesday press conference in which Trump said he was considering using “economic force” to acquire Canada as a U.S. asset and later shared a map of the two countries with the American flag covering both on social media.
Trump also referred to the U.S.-Canada border as an “artificially drawn line” at the time.
In the interview, Watters told Ford that Canada should “consider it a privilege to be taken over by the United States of America” and said that he finds it “personally offensive” that Canadians seem to find that concept “repellant.”
But Ford pushed back and said that what the countries need to do is work more closely together.
“I have a better idea, Jesse. Why don’t we create ‘Fortress Am-Can’ and make sure it’s the richest, wealthiest most prosperous jurisdiction anywhere in the world. We have the critical minerals, we have the energy, we have the electricity that America needs,” Ford said.
Trump has threatened to impose a 25 per cent tax on Canadian and Mexican goods on the day he takes office and many economists have warned that the effect could be particularly devastating for Ontario due to the nearly $500 billion in two-way trade between the province and the U.S. last year.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said there isn’t a “snowball’s chance in hell” that Canada would ever become part of the United States in response to Trump’s comments. Trudeau’s retort came after he announced Monday that he would step down as Liberal leader, but stay on as prime minister until a new leader is chosen.