Here is Doug's guest opinion in today's Washington Post. Currently not behind pay wall but...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opin...d-ontario-premier-tariffs-trump-world-series/
Opinion
Doug Ford: Canada and the Toronto Blue Jays are global heavyweights
Our relationship with the U.S. is being tested by tariffs, but our country is more united than ever.
By Doug Ford
Doug Ford is the premier of Ontario.
For the first time in more than three decades, the Toronto Blue Jays are
competing for the World Series — and the timing couldn’t be better.
Canada and the United States are neighbors, allies and best friends. We have stood shoulder to shoulder on the battlefield, defending shared values of freedom and democracy. Free trade between our two countries has ushered in decades of unprecedented wealth and prosperity, creating millions of jobs on both sides of the border.
U.S. tariffs on Canada’s economy have tested this long-standing partnership.
In response, Canadians have united in a way I’ve never seen. Patriotism is surging north of the border in big and small ways, from choosing Canadian-made products on grocery store shelves to making no apology about cheering on the home team. In February, Canadians united to cheer Team Canada to a hard-fought win over Team USA in the
4 Nations Face-Off hockey tournament. Now, the country is united again to cheer on Canada’s Team — this time the Blue Jays, all the way to a World Series title.
On ESPN, on Fox Sports and every other network throughout the playoffs, fans and pundits alike have described matchups between the Blue Jays and American teams as “David versus Goliath.” Each time, the Jays have come out swinging, first toppling the Yankees and the Mariners and now winning three of the first five games in the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Americans are underestimating the Jays. After all, Canada’s team isn’t some small-market afterthought. The Jays play for the fourth largest metropolitan area in North America and a proud nation of more than 41 million people. With two of the highest payrolls in the league, a Blue Jays versus Dodgers fight is less David versus Goliath and more a heavyweight bout.
Like our team, Canada can boast about being a global heavyweight, too.
We’re an energy superpower, with the oil, gas and electricity needed to power America’s economic growth, including from Ontario’s growing fleet of nuclear power plants and the first small modular nuclear reactors in the G-7. Canada has some of the largest deposits of critical minerals in the world in the
Ring of Fire — including the rare earth minerals needed for advanced manufacturing, medical technologies, modern defense systems and equipment and everyday essentials like mobile phones. We have uranium, potash, high-grade nickel, steel, aluminum and some of the best lumber in the world for building homes.
We’re America’s No. 1 customer, buying more America-made cars than any other country on earth. In 2023, Ontario on its own was the largest trading partner for 17 states and second largest for another 11.
From coast to coast to coast, Canada’s unity is extending to its provincial and territorial governments. In the past eight months, Ontario has signed internal free trade agreements with 10 provinces and territories to grow Canada’s economy by up to $200 billion. Canadian governments are working together to build the pipelines, ports, rail lines, transmission lines and other infrastructure that will unlock new trade routes. We’re onshoring manufacturing jobs and using Canadian products wherever we can to build a stronger, more united country.
Canada stands proud on the world stage. The Jays will, too, when they bring it home and win the World Series.
Let’s go Blue Jays!
news.ontario.ca
