Premier Doug Ford is proposing a closer relationship with the U.S. when it comes to critical minerals while at the same time boasting that the province won’t “roll over” should president-elect Donald Trump follow through on his threatened tariffs upon taking office next week.
Ford made the comment during a news conference at the Royal Ontario Museum on Monday where he discussed a plan to create a new Am-Can Critical Mineral Security Alliance that would “help to build out American and Canadian critical mineral supply chains,” in part, by reducing red tape in resource-rich areas like Ontario’s Ring of Fire region.
The alliance is the latest in a series of announcement geared towards strengthening the U.S.-Ontario trade relationship as part of Ford’s “Fortress Am-Can” pitch.
But the premier told reporters on Monday that he isn’t taking retaliatory actions off the table and has a “list” of measures prepared should Trump …