U.S. trade rhetoric a worry for provinces

Ford pushes buy North America’ mantra amid protectionist talk

- KRISTIN RUSHOWY

Northern premiers, from left, Yukon’s Ranj Pillai, Northwest Territories’ R.J. Simpson, and Nunavut’s P.J. Akeeagok speak to reporters at the Council of the Federation meetings in Halifax on Tuesday. They called Ottawa’s commitment to boost defence spending a “generational opportunity” for Canada’s North.

HALIFAX With tough protectionist trade talk coming from U.S. presidential candidates, Premier Doug Ford says it’s time to change the message to “buy North America.”

“We are facing a lot of challenges in the country, as a new president will be elected (this November) — that was a big conversation,” Ford said on Tuesday after emerging from a day of discussions among all 13 provincial and territorial leaders at the annual Council of the Federation meeting.

Amid “Buy America and “America first” rhetoric and policies, Ford said “we don’t want to see the 10 per cent tariffs at all. I can speak for Ontario — we always believe in ‘buy North America.’ ”

He said when it comes to promoting his province, “I’m first to admit, I’m probably the worst culprit when I told governors ‘buy Ontario, buy Ontario’ — but I think we are changing the language with the U.S. governors now.”

The annual meeting, held this summer in Nova Scotia, saw the premiers discuss trade, housing, energy and emergency preparedness on Tuesday, among other topics including the upcoming U.S. election.