It seems Doug Ford’s decision to call an early election was an attempt to pad his large majority to ensure his leadership for the next few years as he wins hearts with retaliatory tariffs.
Donald Trump announced tariffs on Canadian products and urged Canada to consider becoming the 51st state of the U.S., which caused panic and raised questions about U.S.-Canada relations.
Ontarians seemed to approve Ford's call to pull all American booze off the shelves and cancel a multi-million dollar contract with Elon Musk's Starlink if the tariffs were implemented. Trump paused the tariffs, but it seems he's intent on slapping 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods on March 4.
Nelson Wiseman, professor emeritus with the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto, said Ford wanted to build a stronger mandate to deal with the threat of tariffs. He said, however, the problem with the argument is that he already has a strong mandate and getting more seats is irrelevant.
“The rationale that Ford is using is a phony rationale,” he said.
Wiseman said some suggested the RCMP's investigation into the Greenbelt scandal was at least part of the drive calling an election 16 months early.
“We know that during an election campaign even if the police were thinking of laying criminal charges, they would have to hold off,” he said.
Wiseman said another reason could be that he would rather get a mandate now rather than when there is an economic recession after the tariffs are imposed.
He said when one receives a $200 cheque from the government, it’s not going to make them feel bad about the government.
“How come you’re not just depositing money in their bank accounts? After all, most people now file their income tax electronically so why not just give them an online credit?” Wiseman said.
He said he believes Ford is doing it this way because it's not costing him or the party anything. The government is picking up the $200 per person plus $1.23 postage for every envelope sent.
“When you get something like paper, it has a bigger effect than some credit that shows up in your income tax next year,” Wiseman said.
He said, when Conservatives are so against deficit, then how are they paying for all this, because this is costing millions, if not billions of dollars.
“The interest rates are going up, so the interest you have to pay on the loans you are taking, not just new loans, but also on loans that are coming due and you have to replace them,” Wiseman said.
He said he believes the margin won’t be very big as the polls are suggesting right now. It's expected the gap between Ford and the opposition parties should narrow. Wiseman said the opposition should keep hounding Ford on why he subjected the province to an unnecessary election.
But if Ford is anything, he is very politically astute.
The rebate money offered at the beginning of February was more like a bribe offered to Ontario voters as part of an indirect campaign by Ford, he said. And when the economy falls, his leadership will be in a good place and yet avoid the blame game.
