Tariff fight takes centre stage as Ontario election campaign kicks off [Video]

Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford pitched himself Wednesday as the best steward of the economy in the face of looming tariffs, but the other party leaders say his record from the last seven years suggests otherwise.

Ford says he needs the strongest majority in Ontario history in order to effectively deal with the threatened 25 per cent tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump, and held his first official campaign event in Windsor, with a backdrop of the Ambassador Bridge to the U.S.

“The bigger the mandate I receive from you, the better we’ll be able to protect our province, because this is a game to the president,” Ford said.

“He seeks to divide and conquer. Whether he imposes tariffs next week, next month, or waits another year or more, Trump’s threats are not going away.”

But as focused as Ford has been lately on the tariff fight, he has …