Ford Says He Hosted Carney at His Muskoka Cottage

Ontario Premier Doug Ford hosted Prime Minister Mark Carney at his Muskoka cottage the first night of the first ministers meeting, where Ford says they stayed up past midnight chatting and “solving all the world’s problems.”

As chair of the Council of the Federation, Ford is hosting Canada’s 13 premiers at Deerhurst Resort in Huntsville, Ont., from July 21 to 23 for the 2025 summer meeting of Canada’s premiers.

Prime Minister Mark Carney attended the second day of meetings, but arrived in Muskoka the night before on July 21. Ford said Carney stayed the night at his cottage “down the street” from the resort.

“Full disclosure—the Prime Minister stayed at my place,” Ford told reporters in Huntsville on July 22. “We had dinner. We were up till 12:30 at night, chatting in front of the fireplace, solving all the world’s problems.”

Ford went on to praise Carney, calling the prime minister the “most humble person you’d ever want to meet.” Ford said he has never heard Carney talk about his accomplishments prior to entering politics, such as working for Goldman Sachs, or serving as the governor of Bank of Canada and the head of Bank of England.

“He has his hands full because of the last 10 years of what has happened in our country,” Ford said. “He’s playing clean-up right now and we’re going to be there to support him.”

Ford called the prime minister a “smart business person” and an “honest man.”

The three-day first ministers meeting is focused on building Canada’s economy amid uncertainties in the Canada-U.S. trade relationship.

While Ford has been critical of U.S. President Donald Trump, he said the president can be thanked for “one thing.”

“One thing we can thank President Trump for is getting us moving, getting us united like I’ve never never seen before across the country, and focusing on large infrastructure projects,” Ford said.

He added that a message echoed by ambassadors, the premiers, prime minister, and First Nations communities is that Canada cannot delay in coming together as a country and moving forward with major projects, saying “we should have been doing this decades ago.”

Ford noted the major projects being worked on include nuclear and hydroelectric power projects, wind projects on the east coast, critical minerals developments, cutting red tape and regulations, and building pipelines and rail lines across the country.