Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he intends to strengthen the province’s border with the U.S. in an effort to “send a message” to Donald Trump that he shares the U.S. president-elect’s security concerns.
“Even well before Trump was elected, all the premiers, myself included, for years have been saying we have to tighten up the border, so that’s exactly what we’re doing,” Ford told BNN Bloomberg in a Tuesday interview.
“We’ll have 200 OPP (Ontario Provincial Police) officers out there working collaboratively with CBSA (Canada Border Services Agency), RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police), U.S. border patrol and DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration).”
Ford said the planned increase to the police presence at the border is intended to stem the flow of drugs, illegal immigrants and guns between the U.S. and Canada, an issue Trump cited when he first threatened to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods on his first day in office.
Ford said that while Ontario is doing its part, he’s urging the federal government to do more to strengthen the border nationwide.
Although the federal Liberals announced last month a commitment to allocate $1.3 billion to bolstering border security, Ford said he’s yet to see a detailed plan for how and where the money will be used.
Ford also said he believes Canada should be meeting its North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) defence spending obligations of two per cent of annual gross domestic product (GDP) – a threshold it’s hasn’t met since signing a pledge to do so in 2014.
“We can’t continuously just rely on the U.S. to protect our country. We’re part of NATO, we have to fulfil the commitment of two per cent – minimum,” he said.
Trump ‘should be happy’
Ford said Trump “should be happy” that Canada’s provincial leaders are committed to improving safety and security on both side of the Canada-U.S. border and added that he hopes both nations can “work together” on the issue.
In another apparent effort to appease Trump’s trade concerns, Ford said he believes the federal government should match any tariffs the incoming U.S. administration imposes on China in order to protect the Canada-U.S. supply chain, which he said is inextricably linked.
Ford also reiterated the beneficial nature of the U.S.-Canada trade relationship, which remains strained as Trump’s tariff threats could materialize as soon as next week when he officially takes office.
“Eighty-seven per cent of the potash in Saskatchewan goes down to the U.S. to keep their agricultural sector moving. Uranium comes from Saskatchewan and gets processed in Port Hope in Ontario here, it keeps their military moving forward,” he said.
“We have the finest nickel in the entire world, high-grade nickel that people want. Who do we want to give it to? Well, 47 per cent goes down to the U.S…. aluminum coming from Quebec is essential for their manufacturing, so there’s a whole host of products.”
Retaliatory tariffs a last resort
Ford said that as his government prepares for all possibilities if Trump follows through on his tariff threats, the “last thing” he wants to do is levy retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods, but he didn’t rule it out.
“I want to ship them more critical minerals, more energy, more of everything, but that’s a tool in our toolbox, and we’ll see what the U.S. does,” he said.
Ford added that while Trump has doubled down on his tariff threats in recent weeks, he hasn’t heard the same enthusiasm for imposing them by other U.S. officials or business leaders.
“I just haven’t heard it from CEOs, to the contrary, some of the largest companies in the world that are based in the U.S. are sending letters to president-elect Trump saying this is not good for either economy,” he said.
“Along with elected officials. I’ve talked to endless Republicans and Democrats – they aren’t saying the same thing. So, let’s see how this rolls out on Jan. 20 and 21.”