PAIN COURT , Ont. – Ontario Premier Doug Ford says any NAFTA deal must protect jobs in the province’s agricultural sector.
He says farming jobs can’t be used as a bargaining chip in the trade talks, in which Canada’s supply management for dairy and poultry products has been a point of contention.
The premier made his comments at a rural expo known as the International Plowing Match a day before he heads to Washington for a NAFTA briefing.
The annual expo comes in the middle of a tense time for the government, as Ford and his Progressive Conservatives work to pass a bill that would cut the size of Toronto city council in the middle of an election campaign.
Opponents have been highly critical of the bill, which is proceeding after Ford invoked a constitutional provision known as the notwithstanding clause to override a court ruling that found the council-cutting plan violated voter and candidate rights.
A small group of protesters opposed to Ford’s use of the notwithstanding clause heckled the premier during this remarks at the plowing match.