Ontario voters headed to the polls after Doug Ford calls snap election

Kimberly De Jong/LJI Reporter/Brant Beacon Ontario Premier Doug Ford, pictured here in 2024, has called a snap election.

Phillip Blancher
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Morrisburg Leader

TORONTO – Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling a snap election for February 27. The Premier confirmed at a press conference last Friday (January 24) that he would call the early vote. 

“With a strong mandate, we will be able to fight with Donald Trump to make sure we stop the tariffs,” said Ford. “When you have a strong mandate in politics, and you have a strong mandate from the people for the next four years to last over the four years of the Trump administration, I can tell you, the opposition treats you with a little more respect, as opposed to being vulnerable. Always people think, ‘Okay, they’re going into an election.’”

The election is being called 16-months earlier than prescribed under the province’s fixed election date law. Ford won a majority government on June 2, 2022.

Ford said during his press conference that the proposed 25 per cent tariffs by the US would hit Ontario businesses especially hard. He speculated that the province could lose up to 500,000 jobs including in the manufacturing and the auto sectors.

Speculation has run rampant since last fall at Queen’s Park that Ford would trigger an early election. Since then, there has been a significant up-tick in ministerial announcements, and last fall’s Economic Statement, the province announced a new $200 per person rebate to help with high cost of living due to the Federal Carbon Tax. 

The opposition parties were not buying the early election call as a mandate to battle US tariffs.

“While our province faces a grave threat with half a million jobs at risk, Doug Ford sees an opportunity to fight for one job – his own,” said NDP Leader and Leader of the Opposition Marit Stiles. “For seven long years, Doug Ford has been on the side of wealthy insiders, while life for working people has gotten harder and more expensive. How can we trust him to stand up against Donald Trump and his billionaires when he can’t deliver on making life more affordable, getting people a family doctor, or building more homes?”

Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie said on X (formerly Twitter) that Ford’s election call is not about a mandate against potential tariffs imposed by the United States. 

“It’s about Doug Ford scrambling to outrun the RCMP investigation into his Greenbelt scandal. Ontario’s economy is failing thanks to Ford. We are not prepared to weather this storm. And instead of owning up to his actions, Ford is abandoning his post when Ontarians need leadership the most. With the looming threat of tariffs and the challenges facing our province, Ford has chosen to prioritize his own political survival over the people he was elected to serve,” she said. 

Ontario Green Party Leader said the province needs a united front in the face of potential tariffs, not an election. 

“Ontario needs stability, not an election. We need to demonstrate strength through unity to defend Canadian workers, Canadian jobs and Canadian companies,” he said. “Ford cares more about saving his own job than he does about bringing costs down or making your life better.”

Local Candidates

So far, only two candidates have been nominated in the Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry riding. 

Incumbent MPP Nolan Quinn was nominated as the Progressive Conservative candidate last fall. Quinn is a first-term MPP who also serves as Minister of Colleges and Universities in the Ford government. 

The Cornwall Standard-Freeholder reported that Ottawa-resident Ryan St. Jean is the appointed candidate for the provincial Liberals in SDSG. St. Jean lost the nomination battle in Carleton riding, but was nominated in this riding January 17. 

The provincial NDP and Green Party were contacted about the state of local election readiness by The Leader, no response was given by publication.

At dissolution, the PCs held 79 seats at Queen’s Park, the NDP 28 seats, the Liberals nine seats, the Green Party two seats, and there are six MPPs serving as independents in the 124 seat legislature.

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