‘Unfrightened’ Premier Ford credits Trump’s threats for unifying Canadians

There is more fallout Monday from the U.S. President Donald Trump’s raid on Venezuela and threats against other countries.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he’s not afraid of Trump, despite his aggression and attacks on the Ontario economy.

Ford says he’s not worried about Trump — in fact, he says Trump has done Ontario and Canada a favour by uniting the country against him.

At his first news conference of the year Ford said he has a good feeling about the new year, despite Donald Trump in the wake of his raid on Venezuela.

“I can feel it — I can really feel it out there that we’re going to have a very positive 2026,” said Ford. “But that’s without saying that there are going to be bumps and we’re going to get through them.”

He says a lot changed over the past year and Ontario learned from it.

“Last year we had President Trump just got elected, getting sworn in, put a full attack on our country, on our province,” said Ford. “We didn’t know the rules. Well we learned the rules with President Trump: there are no rules with President Trump.”

So he says Ontario and Canada have to look out for themselves.

“If there was one thing, only one thing, that President Trump has done good for Canada: he woke us up. He woke us up and he’s united us.”

In the Trump era, Ford says the Ontario economy is thriving with $28 billion in new investments last year creating 70,000 thousand jobs, despite the U.S. tariff challenge for areas like steel and autos.

READ MORE: Ford vows to remove Crown Royal from LCBO to protest plant closure

McMaster University economist Colin Mang says Ford is right to say Trump has united Canada’s internal trade, but businesses will be slow to invest until there’s a renewed trade agreement with the U.S. this summer.

“If free trade with the United States continues in its current form, then that will be good for business,” said Mang. “If it doesn’t, then it’s better to find out sooner rather than later so that businesses can make the changes they need to adapt to that reality.”

Trump hasn’t mentioned the 51st state idea for some time, but Ford says he’s not afraid of Trump’s latest threats like the one to take over Greenland.

“It’s not going to frighten me,” said Ford. “It shouldn’t frighten anyone in Canada — what he should be focusing on is getting a deal done.”

Ford also had a warning for US companies, saying he’s going through with his plan to remove Crown Royal from the LCBO next month, when the whiskey maker moves Ontario jobs to the U.S.

“The message to everyone else: don’t try to hurt Ontario, especially if we’re your number one customer, you’ll be held accountable,” said Ford.

He says Ontario will focus on what it can do to thrive.

“But I’m not going to worry about President Trump; I’m going to worry about what we can do, how we can diversify our trade around the world,” said Ford.

Ford says the previous decision to pull American alcohol out of the LCBO has already paid off.

It meant a sales increase of 76 per cent for the Niagara and Ontario wine industry and he maintains that the Ontario economy is going full steam ahead, despite Donald Trump.

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