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The leader of Ontario, Doug Ford, has vowed to push back at US President Donald Trump after securing a third term in office as premier of Canada’s most populous province.<\/p>\n
“Donald Trump thinks he can break us,” he told the cheering crowds in Toronto, but the US president was mistaken, he added. “Canada is not for sale.”<\/p>\n
Ford, who has led Ontario since 2018, called the snap election to get a clear mandate to fight US President Donald Trump over tariffs he threatens to impose on Canadian goods.<\/p>\n
The indications on Friday morning were that his Progressive Conservatives had won more than 80 seats out of 124 in the legislature.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The left-wing New Democratic Party came second, forming the official opposition, while the Liberals were in third place.<\/p>\n
Ford pushed back in his election campaign against Trump’s persistent references to Canada as the 51st US state, sporting a cap saying “Canada is not for sale.”<\/p>\n
In his victory speech at a convention centre in Toronto, he said: “Donald Trump thinks he can break us. He thinks he can divide and conquer, pit region against region. <\/p>\n
“Donald Trump doesn’t know what we know. He is underestimating us. He is underestimating the resilience of the Canadian people, the Canadian spirit.”<\/p>\n
The election was called by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) 10 minutes after polls closed on Thursday evening.<\/p>\n
Voter turnout appears to be near historic lows. As of 23:00 local time (04:00 GMT) with 97% of polls reporting, just over 44% of Ontarians had cast ballots in the election. <\/p>\n
That is essentially tied with the lowest ever turnout of 44% in 2022. <\/p>\n
Ford ran his campaign under the slogan “Protect Canada”, reflecting his view that Canada needs to stand firm against US tariff threats. <\/p>\n
Ford has appeared regularly on US television news networks in recent months as a de-facto spokesman for Canada’s position in its fight against the tariffs.<\/p>\n
President Trump said on Thursday that the tariffs he planned to impose on Canada and Mexico would go ahead next week, after he delayed them a month in exchange for security assurances at the shared borders.<\/p>\n
Around 75% of Canadian exports go to the US, and economists have warned that the tariffs would be devastating for Canada’s economy while raising costs for Americans.<\/p>\n
Ontario is home to a large automotive sector that is deeply intertwined with the US – car parts often make several trips back and forth across the US-Canada border before a vehicle is fully assembled and sold.<\/p>\n
Ford has suggested that 500,000 of Ontario’s 16 million people could lose their jobs if the US follows through on the blanket 25% tariffs.<\/p>\n
He has called for strong retaliation, suggesting Canada cut its energy supply to the US and calling for provincial liquor stores to pull American booze from their shelves.<\/p>\n
He has also proposed the idea of “Fortress Am-Can” – a slogan to sell Trump on a stronger energy alliance between the two countries in a bid to avoid tariffs altogether. <\/p>\n
Opposition parties have criticised Ford for calling the snap election, accusing him of taking advantage of the rift in US-Canada relations to boost his own popularity. They also questioned the decision to push for a costly election amid economic uncertainty.<\/p>\n
Ford has also been the subject of numerous controversies, including an ongoing criminal investigation into a deal to sell a piece of environmentally protected land for real estate development.<\/p>\n
At a speech to supporters on Thursday, Bonnie Crombie, leader of the Ontario Liberals, said that while the party fell short of forming a government it should be “very proud” of the seats it gained.<\/p>\n
“People counted us out. Tonight, you proved them wrong,” said Crombie, who failed to win her own seat. She vowed to continue on as leader.<\/p>\n
The last time a government in Ontario formed three consecutive majorities was under Leslie Frost, a Progressive Conservative leader who won his third and final term in 1959.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n