Ontario Premier Doug Ford says the federal Liberals obtaining a majority government will bring stability, days ahead of three byelections that could put the ruling party in the driver’s seat.
In comments made to the Toronto Star while on a trade mission in Texas on April 2, Ford said political “certainty” is needed amid trade negotiations with the United States and the upcoming review of the continental free trade deal.
The Liberals of Prime Minister Mark Carney were elected with a strong minority in the spring of 2025 and made efforts afterward to reach a majority by poaching opposition MPs.
The Liberals moved three seats closer with the defection of two Tory and one NDP MPs, and lost three seats with the departure of two former cabinet ministers and the Supreme Court decision on the Terrebonne election.
The three lost seats could be re-taken in the April 13 byelections in Terrebonne and two Toronto ridings. The Liberals only need two wins to reach a majority, and the Toronto ridings are considered safe Liberal seats. Winning Terrebonne as well, which will be hard fought with the Bloc Québécois, would remove the requirement to have the House speaker cast his vote to break a tie.
“They have three byelections, and if they win them, then they’ll have a majority. And again, a magical word in both countries is everyone wants certainty. Everyone wants to move forward,” Ford told the Star.
The Ontario premier and his Progressive Conservatives sailed to a third straight majority government when he called a snap election last winter, seeking a strong mandate from voters to better face U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats.
Relationship
Ford and Carney have mostly enjoyed a convivial relationship, though there have been periods of tension.
Ford’s decision to run an anti-tariff TV ad campaign in the United States led to Trump cancelling trade talks in the fall of 2025, at a time when Canadian and U.S. officials were getting closer to reaching a deal to reduce the impacts of Trump’s tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum.
Ford said Carney and his chief of staff saw the ad before it was released. Meanwhile, Carney said it was an “obvious” choice for his government not to run such campaigns in the United States, adding that Ford “took a decision which is different than the Canadian government’s, which is responsible for that relation.”
More recently, Ford criticized Carney for not consulting him on Ottawa’s decision to allow up to 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles (EV) in Canada at a preferential tariff rate.
“I’m disappointed because we had such a great relationship,” Ford said on Jan. 19, following Carney’s visit to China. “So much for the partnership.”
Canada’s car industry is mostly located in Ontario, and Ford said the move will be detrimental for Canadian jobs. Ottawa says the move will improve EV affordability as it seeks to increase consumer uptake.
While Ford publicly expressed this disappointment in recent months, he told the Toronto Star this week that he has good relations with Carney.
“As far as I’m concerned Prime Minister Carney is a good man. He’s a very astute business person. He’s a sharp guy,” Ford said. “I’ll never forget when I met him the first time, the first words out of his mouth: ‘I’m more conservative than you.’ And I said: ‘well that sounds good.’”
The two leaders had first met in official capacity in Ford’s Toronto riding in March 2025, shortly after Carney had been sworn-in as prime minister.
More recently, the two held a joint event on March 30 to announce a $8.8 billion pledge from their respective governments to cut development charges in municipalities in order to give a jolt to the sluggish housing market.
During the event, Ford spoke after Carney and inquired with the prime minister if he had taken a sip from the glass of water on the podium. After Carney replied in the negative, Ford said he would take a sip, while adding jokingly: “This isn’t going to turn me into a Liberal is it? I’ve already been accused of being a Liberal.”
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