Ford to speak at news conference days after heated war of words with Trump

Approval rating for Ford's PCs has gone up amid trade war, latest poll suggests

WATCH LIVE | Doug Ford set to make announcement in Vaughan, Ont.

Just day after a heated war of words with U.S. President Donald Trump, Ontario Premier Doug Ford is set to speak at a news conference in Vaughan Wednesday morning.

Ford is expected to be joined at 10:30 a.m. ET by Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Rob Flack, federal Ministry of Housing parliamentary secretary Jennifer McKelvie, federal Minister of International Trade Maninder Sidhu, and Vaughan Mayor Steven Del Duca.

CBC News will carry the news conference live in this article.

Trade negotiations broke down between the U.S. and Canada last week leading the U.S. to impose 50 per cent tariffs Saturday on about $28 billion worth of Canadian goods. Prime Minister Mark Carney subsequently promised retaliatory, dollar-for-dollar tariffs to come on Sept 8.

That news led the U.S. and Ontario leaders to exchange blows online, with Ford saying the president could "kiss my ass" and Trump calling the premier "Flunky Ford." Trump went as far to threaten renaming Lake Ontario as "Lake America" on Truth Social Tuesday.

Here's how Ontario is responding to U.S. tariffs

Ford told CNN Tuesday that it would be good to turn down the heat on exchanging jabs with the president and instead focus on getting back to the negotiation table.

The premier shared a memorandum letter to Ontario board chairs on social media platform X Wednesday morning, reminding them of the responsibility to support local businesses and the province's Buy Ontario policies due to "unjustified tariff increases."

He urged chairpersons to review their supply chains and planned procurements to find ways to shift away from American businesses.

"By ensuring as much of this spending as possible is directed to Ontario and Canadian businesses, we can make the difference for a company that might otherwise be forced to close its doors or lay off employees as a result of these tariffs," he said.

Premier must do 'whatever it takes': Toronto mayor

Ford told The Associated Press Monday that "everything is on the table" if the trade war continues, including the possibility of cutting off electricity and critical minerals from Ontario to the U.S.

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said the premier has to do "whatever it takes" to stop the uncertainty and losses on both sides of the border.

"We cannot continue to fight and destroy each other's economy and the prices of everything going up is painful. So we have to solve this," she said in an interview with CNN Wednesday.

Approval ratings for Ford's Progressive Conservatives have rebounded this month amid the trade war, with the party now having a four point lead over the Ontario Liberals, according to a new survey by Liaison Strategies. The poll surveyed a random sample of 1,500 Ontarians from Aug. 23 to 24 in the midst of the latest tariff news.

Participants were in support of tariff retaliation with a majority 83 per cent supporting Canadian tariffs on American goods and 85 per cent supporting keeping U.S. alcohol out of LCBO stores until a trade agreement is made.

With files from Amy van den Berg and Alina Snisarenko