Carney stayed overnight at Ford’s Muskoka cottage ‘chatting in front of the fireplace’

Prime Minister Mark Carney stayed overnight at Doug Ford’s rural Muskoka property “solving the world’s problems” around the fireplace on Monday, Ontario’s premier says.

Carney was in cottage country Monday and for the first half of Tuesday to hold meetings with Canada’s premiers to discuss interprovincial trade and tariffs from the United States.

After the first day of meetings, Ford invited his fellow premiers and their immediate family for an intimate meal at his cottage, which is located a short drive from the Deerhurst Resort, where the main conference is taking place.

1:36 ‘Prime minister stayed at my place’: Ford’s ‘little shack’ plays host to Carney, premiers

Quebec Premier Francois Legault described the property, with a wink, as a “very nice, small chalet.”

Ford added, “I have a little shack up the street there.”

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The premier’s staff said Ford and his guests ate seasonal vegetables,  potatoes, salad, chicken and steak, as well as a cake to celebrate British Columbia Premier David Eby’s birthday.

Carney, who arrived in the area late on Monday, then agreed to stay over at the Ford family cottage, the premier said.

“So, full disclosure, the prime minister stayed at my place,” Ford said. ” We had dinner, we were up till 12:30 at night, chatting in front of the fireplace, solving all the world’s problems.”

Praising the prime minister, he added: “He’s playing clean up right now. We’re going to be there to support him. But he’s a very good man. He’s off to a good start.”

The three days of meetings in Muskoka have been dominated by the question of tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump, who has promised to add a 35 per cent levy to Canada on Aug. 1.

While the country’s premiers and prime minister agreed on the importance of working together to reduce internal trade barriers and the need for Ottawa to negotiate a good deal, they outlined few concrete takeaways from their meetings on Tuesday afternoon.