Ontario Premier Doug Ford has outlined a proposed energy alliance between Canada and the United States designed to unite the two countries as efforts to head off increasingly hostile threats from President-elect Donald Trump continue.
The proposal, which Ontario is calling “Fortress Am-Can,” is being pitched as a “renewed strategic alliance between Canada and America” aimed at achieving energy security and power economic growth for both countries.
On Wednesday, Ford said it “is a beacon of stability, security and long-term prosperity.”
The announcement is a pillar in Ontario’s efforts to convince Trump to walk back threats which have escalated from a promise of 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian goods to using “economic force” to make Canada U.S.’s 51st state.
“Our country is not for sale — it will never be for sale,” Ford said Wednesday. “But I think we work together for an incredible trade deal.”
The suggestion of Canada joining the United States appeared to start as a joke Trump made when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau travelled to Mar-a-Lago to meet Trump and discuss working together when he takes office.
It then became a go-to jibe for Trump on social media and, at a news event on Monday, he suggested it was something he could be taking more seriously.
During a wide-ranging news conference, Trump told reporters he wouldn’t rule out using military action to take back control of the Panama Canal and acquire Danish-controlled Greenland, which he said the U.S. needs for economic and security reasons.
Asked if he was considering the same to “annex and acquire Canada,” Trump responded, “No — economic force.”
“Canada and the United States, that would really be something,” he said. “You get rid of that artificially drawn line, and you take a look at what that looks like, and it would also be much better for national security.”
Ford, who is the chair of the Council of the Federation of Canada’s premiers, is pushing to lead Canada’s efforts to work with the United States with Trudeau set to step aside as Prime Minister and a leadership race gripping the Liberal Party.
On Wednesday, he said he wants to “stop wasting time and ridiculous ideas about merging” and focus efforts on Made in Canada and Made in USA.
“With a new administration set to take office in the White House, our government has an ambitious plan to build up Fortress Am-Can to usher in a new American and Canadian century defined by unprecedented growth, job creation and prosperity. We can only do so by working together and respecting each other,” Ford said.
“Fortress Am-Can should be powered by Am-Can energy of every type that’s produced, consumed and creates jobs in every region of both countries,” Ford continued. “With our fleet of nuclear power plants and the first small modular nuclear reactors in the G7, Ontario is uniquely positioned to power the future of Fortress Am-Can.”
As part of building Fortress Am-Can, the government said it’s recommending several additional measures, including establishing a cross-border working group with American and Canadian lawmakers alongside industry experts to align regulations and best practices amid threats and eliminate red tape.
It also recommends encouraging more exports of Canadian energy and electricity to the U.S., including Ontario’s clean nuclear energy, to power growth on both sides of the border, and reinforcing new and existing electricity transmission in interties and natural gas and oil pipelines between Canada and the U.S., among other measures.
The government said the plan will leverage Ontario’s “unique advantages” to help the U.S. bring jobs back home “as it decouples from China.”
Ford has also appeared on international and U.S. television shows to pitch his ideas and attempt to dissuade Trump from taking economic measures that could weaken the Canadian dollar and hurt domestic industries.
He has taken part in interviews on BBC News, CNN and FOX News selling Ontario and Canada as close partners of the United States. If Trump goes through with his tariff threat, however, Ford has called for Canada to level its own measures.
“We have to retaliate, we have to retaliate hard against our friends south of the border, which is unfortunate,” Ford said on Monday.
Internally, Ontario has drawn up a list of products it could slap tariffs on and other measures if Trump goes ahead with the move. That includes cutting off power to 1.5 million Americans, restricting imports of U.S.-made alcohol and limiting experts of Ontario’s critical minerals.
Trump on Monday appeared resolute in his claim the United States doesn’t need Canada’s products or exports.
Trump repeatedly stated the U.S. “subsidizes” Canada to the tune of US$200 billion in trade and spends billions more on continental defence programs like NORAD than Canada, who he said “don’t essentially have a military.”
“We don’t need their cars, we don’t need their lumber,” he continued. “We don’t need anything they have. We don’t need their dairy products. We don’t need anything. So why are we losing $200 billion a year and more to protect Canada?”
— with files from Global News’ Colin D’Mello and Sean Boynton