Ford's Texas Trip: Pushing Fortress Am-Can

0:00It's March 28th. From your city to your ears, this is Toronto News today, powered by AI. Ontario premier Doug Ford heads to Texas next week for a multi-day push on Stronger Canada, U.S. Trade Ties. He'll hit Houston, Dallas, and Austin to meet Governor Greg Abbott, a close ally of President Donald Trump, plus top execs from companies like Toyota, Hewlett Packard, and McKesson. Ford's main message, Trump's tariffs on Canadian steel and autos, are hurting economies on both sides of the border. These tariffs have slammed Ontario hard, acting like a tax that costs billions for families and businesses everywhere. Ford's office calls it a drag on growth, stressing that teamwork beats trade wars every time. He's been vocal about this for a year now, especially with fresh talks underway to renegotiate the Canada, U.S. Mexico agreement. Back in October, things got tense when Ontario ran a U.S. TV ad featuring old clips from Ronald Reagan blasting tariffs.

1:01Trump killed negotiations over it, calling the spot, fake news. Ford yanked the ad but still hails it as his best move ever, showing how personal these trade spats can get. Meanwhile, federal trade minister Dominic LeBlanc just wrapped meetings in Washington with U.S. reps, keeping the big picture talks alive. Ford's not waiting around, he's building state-level bonds, like his recent New York deal on nuclear power with Governor Kathy Hocal, even as energy ministers heading to DC, with business folks for more outreach. Ford doves his vision, fortress and can, a tighter economic and security link between our countries. This Texas run keeps that momentum rolling, proving Ontario's playing offense in the trade game.