Ontario premiers, U.S. governors push back against Trump’s tariffs

Ontario Premier Doug Ford and leaders from other provinces met with New England governors Monday in Boston to talk tariffs.

Both sides agreed that U.S. President Donald Trump’s taxes are hurting people on both sides of the border. Experts say these talks are an attempt to influence Trump.

“Leaders around the world that I have talked to are dumbfounded … they’ve taken a few steps back and said, ‘I can’t believe the president is going after your country,’`” Ford said.

Ford and premiers from four Atlantic provinces, and Quebec’s economic minister, met with governors of northeastern states today in Boston.

Both sides expressed frustration and disbelief that Trump would impose harsh tariffs on Canada – impacting both sides of the border.

“It’s our neighbours. These are relationships that have now been damaged because of rhetoric out of Washington, as well as tariffs which – how do you spell tariff? It is nothing more than a t-a-x, tax. And Americans need to know that – that this is a tax on everything they buy,” said Governor of New York Kathy Hochul.

Ford told the governors that Ontario is rich in critical minerals, and he wants to ship them to the U.S.

“Ontario has more critical minerals than anywhere in the entire world. And who do I want to send them to? I want to send them to our closest friends,” said Ford.

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A hot topic for several of the governors was energy — as many of the homes in their states are powered by Canadian energy.

“50 per cent of Vermont’s energy comes from Canada – about 20, 25 per cent of that is from Hydro-Quebec,” said Governor of Vermont, Phil Scott.

“Next year we will power over one million homes with hydro electric power from Quebec. That starts because you have a friendship, a relationship of trust,” Hochul said.

Political science professor at the University of Mary Washington Stephen Farnsworth says these talks are all in an effort to get to Trump – and it’s worth a shot.

“The hopes, I imagine, that the Canadian premiers are hoping to come out of this meeting is a process where American governors are in a position to pressure the administration a bit more to relax some of the increasingly strict standards that the Trump administration is imposing and wants to further impose going forward,” Farnsworth said.

But he says the biggest influence over Trump and his tariffs seems to be Wall Street.

Only time will tell if Canadian premiers and American governors have a chance to change the president’s mind.

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