‘Canada is not for sale’: Ford dons cap with clear message to Trump
Posted Jan 15, 2025 12:00:54 PM.
Last Updated Jan 15, 2025 01:38:30 PM.
Doug Ford is again expressing his feelings ahead of the first premier’s meeting with the prime minister in Ottawa today.
Ford addressed the media while wearing a baseball cap adorned with the phrase “Canada is not for sale,” with the Canadian flag on one side and 1867 on the other.
Provincial leaders, Prime Minister Trudeau, and some of his cabinet members will discuss U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s threats of 25 cent tariffs on Canada and Mexico.
Ford later wrote in a social media post that the hat came from Ottawa entrepreneur Jackpine and linked to their new online hat store, strongandfreehat.ca.
The website’s offerings include baseball caps and tuques emblazoned with “Canada is not for sale” or “strong and free.” The pair behind the hats say they were inspired by a recent interview Ford did with Fox News, in which the host pushed Trump’s idea of annexation.
Trump ready to take office next week
Ford, meanwhile, says Trump wants to “devastate Canada,” calling it unacceptable, and estimates the tariff could cost 500,000 jobs in Ontario.
“The country comes first over anything,” Ford said. “We’re going to continue to fight these tariffs, and we’re going to use every tool on our toolbox to ensure that happens.”
Canada is the top supplier of foreign oil to the U.S., accounting for about one-fifth of its oil supply.
Trump initially said the tariffs were being imposed in response to drugs and illegal immigration crossing the shared border but has since pivoted to citing the United States’ trade deficit with Canada.
In a social media post on Tuesday, Trump pledged to create an “external revenue service” to start collecting “tariffs, duties and all revenue that come from foreign sources.”
In the past, Trump has stated that if Canada merged with the U.S., there would be no tariffs imposed, taxes would “go way down,” and the country would be “totally secure from the threat of the Russian and Chinese ships that are constantly surrounding them.”
On Wednesday, Ottawa released new details of its $1.3-billion border security package. The move comes just five days ahead of Trump’s official swearing-in as U.S. President.
Public Safety Minister David McGuinty said Ottawa is adding 60 drones at the Canada-U.S. border and will deploy two new helicopters. He says he’s hoping Trump will understand just how serious Ottawa is taking border security.
“We’re not interested in drama. We’re interested in making progress,” McGuinty said.
With files from The Canadian Press
