NIAGARA FALLS — NDP MPP Wayne Gates (Niagara Falls) responds to Premier Doug Ford’s dousing gasoline on rumours to call a provincial snap-election in the face of a U.S. tariff threat, and urging the Premier to use a Team Ontario approach, working with border communities and leaders across the province to protect jobs and the economy.
“Ontario cannot afford to take its eye off the ball,” said Gates. “What I hear from my communities along the border and from our leaders is that this is an existential threat that requires an all-hands-on-deck approach. I don’t care if you’re Conservative, Liberal, NDP, Green, or Independent – we must work together across party lines to protect Ontarian & Canadian jobs, independence, and sovereignty,” said Gates.
The proposed 25% tariffs on Canadian goods would impact key industries in Ontario, from auto manufacturing, energy, forestry and agriculture, and put as many as 1.5 million Canadian jobs at risk.
“In the middle of an affordability crisis, when taxes and families using food banks are up to historic levels, spending hundreds of millions of dollars on an election is something we can’t afford right now—it plays into the hands of those that want to divide us. How about instead of calling an unnecessary election for political gain, Ford recalls the legislature on Monday so we can work together to stand up united against Trump’s tariffs?” said Gates.