Doug Ford is calling his ad campaign that sparked controversy an incredible success. Speaking at Queen’s Park on Monday morning, he called it “the most successful ad in the history of North America.”
Given that President Donald Trump’s reaction to the ad was to call off all trade talks with Canada and then threaten another 10% tariff on Canada as a result of Ford still airing the ad during the World Series, plenty of people might doubt that statement.
“If this is the most successful ad in North American history, what does failure look like?” I called out to Ford as he met with reporters after question period.
“I’ll tell you, Brian, that we had over a billion impressions around the world, and what we did, we generated a conversation that wasn’t happening in the U.S.,” Ford said.
“Now, every single local media, every large media, medium-sized media, in the U.S. is talking about it. So is every governor, senator and congressman and woman, not only nationally, but statewide. And the message was very clear, protectionism does not work.”
Judging by those metrics, it can be hard to argue that the ad didn’t have an impact, but impact and success can be two different things.
All about protecting auto jobs, says Ford
Ford said that his relationship with Prime Minister Mark Carney isn’t strained and that Carney and his team saw the ad before it went out. Trump saw the ad last week before he got angry about it and actually commented that he’d run the same thing if he were Canada.
Apparently feelings about this ad can change and they most certainly have for Carney who blamed the effort for derailing talks as he was travelling in Malaysia.
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“There were a series of very detailed, very specific, very comprehensive discussions,” Carney told reporters. “Up until the point of those ads running.”
If the TV ad derailed the talks, Ford isn’t upset. He clearly felt talks were going in the wrong direction with auto being left out of discussions that focused on steel, aluminum and energy.
“Let’s, talk about a so-called deal. I’ve been hearing this for month after month after month, and if there was, there was no mention about auto, it’s about steel,” Ford said.
While the premier pledged his love for the steel industry, he said it’s his job to protect Ontario’s number one industry – the auto industry.
“I’m fighting for the people down in Windsor, up in Brampton, over in Oshawa, up in Cambridge, any area that has auto, it’s my job to protect those people’s employment,” Ford said.
Trump’s White House has noticed Doug Ford
Ford has faced a barrage of criticism from across Canada and south of the border where Trump’s Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Ford was well known for being a “hothead” while appearing on American television over the weekend.
CBC is now reporting, citing anonymous sources , that Ford’s anti-Trump rhetoric has been raised by the Trump administration during trade talks. Ford was viewed favourably by those around Trump in the early months of his second term when Ford was critical of Trump’s policies but not the man himself. Over the past several months, Ford has taken a very personal and aggressive tone regarding Trump – calling him a tyrant at one point – and the White House has noticed.
Another major irritant of the Americans is Ford’s decision to take and keep American booze off the shelves of the LCBO. It’s an issue raised at every meeting between Canadian and American officials whether in Washington, Ottawa or Toronto.
It’s also an issue that Ford isn’t moving on; he is keeping the American booze off the shelf.
“He’s seen the whole world roll over,” Ford said. “I’ll tell you, I’m not going to roll over.”
While refusing to say if he would run more ads in the future, Ford certainly wasn’t apologizing for the one he has been running despite the mess it caused.
