BREAKINGBREAKING,
Progressive Conservative Party wins third consecutive majority in vote dominated by trade tensions.
Canada’s Ontario province has re-elected Premier Doug Ford’s ruling conservatives in an election heavily focused on trade tensions stoked by United States President Donald Trump.
Ford and his Progressive Conservative Party (PC Party) cruised to their third consecutive legislative majority on Thursday after seeking the “largest mandate in Ontario history” to protect the economy of Canada’s most populous province from Trump’s tariffs.
The PC Party had won at least 74 seats in the 124-member Legislative Assembly of Ontario and was leading in six other districts as of Thursday night, according to a tally by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Ford, who often sported a “Canada is Not for Sale” hat and styled himself as Captain Canada throughout his election campaign, called the vote more than a year early, arguing that he should have a stronger mandate to navigate four years of potential economic chaos under Trump.
During his election campaign, Ford made two trips to Washington, DC, and made numerous appearances on US networks such as Fox News and CNN to lobby against the tariffs.
Trump, who had agreed to a 30-day pause on his threatened tariffs on Canada and Mexico pending negotiations on border security, said on Thursday that the 25-percent levies would go into effect on March 4.
Canadian and Mexican officials were due to meet Trump administration officials in Washington on Thursday and Friday to try to forestall the tariffs, which could deal a serious blow to the highly integrated North American economy.
More to follow…