Think Doug Ford Is Best to Handle Trump? Think Again

[Editor’s note: This article is republished with permission from Emmett Macfarlane’s Substack Defending Canadian Democracy.]

What better Canadian political leader to handle Donald Trump’s insane attacks on Canada than a retail populist, plain-spoken, blue-collar, slogan-hat-wearing guy who talks “tough” and will make bold threats against the bully? Doug Ford has become the media poster boy for Canada’s defence against Trump. He jumped at the positive coverage, declared an opportunistic and unnecessary election and won big. And now he’s “leading” Canada in its battle against U.S. economic aggression and threats to our sovereignty.

Or so a lot of media spin would have you believe.

There’s just one problem with this narrative: it’s deceptively, dangerously wrong. And I’m going to spell out two core reasons you should reject it.

First, Doug Ford’s record on “standing tall against U.S. aggression” so far actually shows a trait of his that matches Trump’s: he’s a weak flip-flopper.

Consider the first wave of Trump’s tariff’s threats. Ford came out strong, announcing that everything was on the table, showing support for not only retaliatory tariffs but also threatening to withhold valuable minerals and electricity. He also announced the scrapping of the colossally foolish Starlink deal he entered into with Elon Musk’s company. Great stuff.

But then Trump announced a one-month delay in the implementation of tariffs, and what did Ford do? He re-entered the Starlink deal, a deal that obviously represents not just an economic benefit for Elon Musk — a prominent member of a hostile regime actively threatening Canadian sovereignty and whom we should be targeting for sanctions — but a wasteful, environmentally destructive security threat to Canada’s interests.

And of course when Round 2 (or was it Round 3? It’s hard to follow events these days) emerged and Trump finally followed through on tariff actions, Ford flip-flopped on his flip-flop and again ripped up the deal. This time, however, he also showed his teeth and announced a 25 per cent surcharge on electricity exports to the United States. This riled Trump — demonstrating that it was in fact a perfect retaliatory measure. But when Trump threatened to double tariffs on steel and aluminum, instead of showing bravery, Ford backed down, caving to a bully and dropping the surcharge.

And what did Ford get in return? Nothing, except yet another futile meeting in Washington with Trump subordinates. Great. (And yes, it will be futile. Even if both sides emerge today announcing a new agreement — what’s it worth? Trump simply can’t be trusted.)

The second reason Ford is not the right person for the moment is much more important: if Ford got his way and managed somehow to make nice-nice with Trump, he would seek to dive us into an even deeper relationship with the United States. He’s on American TV saying it would be better if Canada were drawn even closer into American orbit, “Fortress Am-Can,” yada yada.

This is the exact opposite of what Canada’s stance must be. We need our leaders to adopt a warlike footing to pivot us away from the United States and towards democratic allies around the world. This requires sustained, massive and unyielding long-term vision, something of which Doug Ford is simply incapable.

The United States is no longer a trusted ally. This reality extends past whenever Trump leaves office. Maybe too many of us are still in a state of disbelief to admit it, but our neighbours and former friends have succumbed to authoritarianism.

The United States can no longer be characterized as a full-fledged democracy. It is now, in fact, the greatest threat to the democratic world of my lifetime.

And even if Americans eventually buck the Republicans out of power and bring in a “normal” government, we can never trust them again. The willingness of half their population to support a criminal monster must never be forgotten.

For this reason, any Canadian politician who isn’t willing to pour all of their energies into mobilizing a seismic, structural shift away from the United States — economically, militarily and diplomatically — is one who is not working in Canada’s best interests.

And in a context where some Canadian leaders — most notably Alberta Premier Danielle Smith — appear more attracted to MAGA than to defending Canada, it is all the more important we not fall for the Fords of the world, who will opportunistically talk tough about defending Canada, all while desiring a closer relationship with the emergent enemy to our south.