Speaking at a mining convention in Toronto on Monday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the province would back the country’s united approach to Trump’s 25% tariffs, even if that means cutting off electricity to its southern neighbor.
“If they want to try to annihilate Ontario, I will do everything — including cut off their energy with a smile on my face,” Ford said. “They rely on our energy, they need to feel the pain. They want to come at us hard, we’re going to come back twice as hard.”
The premier doubled down on that message Tuesday as he fielded questions from reporters while standing behind a podium reading, “Canada is not for sale.” Instead of mutual prosperity and security, said Ford, “one man — President Trump — has chosen chaos.”
“Now we have no choice: We have to respond,” he said.
According to data tracked by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Canada exported $3.2 billion worth of power to the United States in 2023. Power transmission between the two countries plays a critical role in balancing the grid and ensuring system reliability.
Ford has also threatened to cut off nickel exports to the U.S., which relied on Ontario for 46% of the mineral last year.
In a followup conversation with CNN, Ford apologized to the American people while explaining his plans to, if need be, cut off the electricity from Ontario that powers 1.5 million U.S. households in New York, Michigan and Minnesota.
“This is unnecessary, and we do have to retaliate, and I apologize to the American people. It’s not you, it’s your president that’s causing this problem,” he said.
“President Trump ran on a mandate to lower costs, to create more jobs. This is going to do exactly the opposite.”
