October 14, 2025
The Empire Club of Canada Presents
Delivering Our Plan to Protect Ontario: The Honourable Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario
Chairman: Saurabh Popat, President, Board of Directors, Empire Club of Canada
Moderator
Ben Mulroney
Distinguished Guest Speaker
The Honourable Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario
Head Table Guests
James Scognack, Chief Development Officer & Executive Vice President, Operational Services, Bruce Power
Andrew Wallace, Managing Director and Head, Real Estate Investment Banking, National Bank Financial Markets
Megan Tilford, Chief Operating Officer, Hydro One
Welcome Address by Saurabh Popat, President, Board of Directors, Empire Club of Canada
Hi, everyone. Welcome. Let’s give one more round of applause for the Royal Conservatory of Music’s Glenn Gould Studio. Amazing rendition of “Maple Leaf Forever.” Good afternoon, everyone. I’m Saurabh Popat, and it’s my great honour to serve as the chair of the board at the Empire Club of Canada, and your host for today’s event. You may be seated.
I want to formally begin, but to acknowledge that we are gathered here on the Traditional and Treaty Lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit, and the homelands of the Anishinaabe, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat Peoples. I encourage you all to learn more about the Traditional Territory on which you work and live.
Now, we’re very honoured, as well, to have a number of ministers, MPPs, mayors, and other elected officials and dignitaries in the room. So, please join me in recognising them for their leadership and public service. Thank you.
Today’s event would not be possible without the generous support of our sponsors. The Empire Club is a non-profit organization, and our sponsors generously support the club, and make these events possible and complementary for our online viewers to attend. So, please join me in thanking our Lead Sponsors, Bruce Power, National Bank Financial Markets, and Hydro One. Thank you to our VIP Reception Sponsors, Ellis Don, McKinsey & Company, Ontario Real Estate Association, Waste Connections of Canada, AECON, Algoma Steel, Amazon Web Services, CAA Insurance, Enbridge, Fidelity Investments, Fortis, the Greater Toronto Hotel Association, LiUNA, Merck Canada, Ontario Road Builders Association, and Westinghouse. Thank you all. And to our Supporting Sponsors, Alto, BWXT, CAPP, CBRE Canada, Food and Beverage Ontario, Golfdale Consulting, Greater Toronto Sewer and Water Mane Contractors Association, LifeLabs, TELUS Health, Think Research, Siena Senior Living, Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario, Valor Construction, Foster & Associates, Nieuport Aviation, Stirling Ridge Group Inc., and Toronto Metropolitan University. Thank you all. And we also deeply appreciate the ongoing support of our Lead Season Sponsors, Bruce Power, National Bank Financial Markets, and Hydro One. And our VIP Reception Season Sponsors, Ellis Don, McKinsey & Company, the Ontario Road Builders Association, and Waste Connections of Canada. Thank you all. And finally, thank you to our Media Partner, the Toronto Star, and our AV Sponsor, Bespoke Audiovisual. Thank you.
And I’d also like to mention that our Empire Club Foundation Student Leadership Donors include Eric Jackman, Greater Toronto Sewer and Water Mane Contractors Association, and M.J. Perry. Thank you.
Now, as Canada faces economic uncertainty and shifting global dynamics, leadership matters, especially in the current and turbulent headwinds that we collectively face. Ontario’s future as a province and as an economy obviously implies immense change. To resist change would be disastrous, and to fear it only demeans our real potential. Those were prophetic words spoken by former Premier Bill Davis, and they feel just as relevant today, in another period of sound and fury.
What happens here in Ontario inevitably has a ripple effect across the entire country. It’s simply a reflection of the scale and size of Ontario’s economy, the strength of our industries, the innovation and resourcefulness of our people, and the influence and leadership of the government. Decisions made here not only affect this province; it impacts Canada’s future. And that’s why this provincial government has a special responsibility, a sense of urgency, and an unrelenting focus to act and govern accordingly. And that’s what makes today’s conversation so important.
Over the past year, Premier Doug Ford has played a central role on the national stage. As Chair of the Council of the Federation, he worked with premiers across the country to support a united Canada, one without or fewer trade barriers, one with greater labour mobility, and one that invests in innovation and industries to protect Canada’s sovereignty while out-competing globally. And on the world stage, he earned the nickname Captain Canada for defending national interests at a time when the global environment is anything but certain, especially with his leadership and unwavering presence on the notoriously intense U.S. media networks. Thank you, Premier.
Now, with the Ontario Legislature about to return, we’ll hear from him on the next chapter of his government’s plan to protect Ontario, and to keep our economy competitive, and our people productive. The Empire Club is proud to host this conversation. For more than 120 years, this stage has been a place for Canadians to hear directly from leaders on the issues that matter most.
Before we welcome the Premier to the stage, it is my pleasure to introduce a long-standing friend of the Club. Representing one of today’s Lead Sponsors and a Season Sponsor, Bruce Power, is James Scognack, Chief Development Officer and Executive Vice President of Operational Services. James was with us recently to introduce another important conversation on Canada’s nuclear future, underscoring how critical energy will be to both our economic security and our path to net zero. We are delighted to welcome him back today. Please join me, in welcoming back James to the podium.
Opening Remarks by James Scognack, Chief Development Officer & Executive Vice President, Operational Services, Bruce Power
Thanks. Well, good afternoon, everybody, and thank you very much for having me. I have the honour of introducing Ontario’s Premier today. But I always say, if we’ve got 1,300 people in the room and you don’t know who Doug Ford is, you’re in the wrong room. Just before I introduce the Premier, could I ask everybody in the room to stand up? If you’re an elected official, somebody that works for a minister, somebody in the Ontario government, please stand up, and let’s give them a round of applause for their public service to Ontario. Please stand up. Don’t be shy. Dasha, stand up. Everybody stand up. [Applause]
You know, I always like to start with this, because public service and leadership is a choice, and a lot of the challenges that you’re going to hear the Premier talk about today, and the opportunities for Ontario, we can only pursue those opportunities and tackle those challenges with people that are willing to choose public service. And I can tell you that the roles in government that people choose to pursue and work in every day, they are some of the toughest jobs in Ontario. They can often be thankless, but they’re absolutely critical to, to what we do. And it’s our job, many people here from the private sector, to work with the government to drive those opportunities, and really let public servants know that we have their back ,and we want to be partners as the private sector.
I also want to start by, you know, repeating a line that I think you’ll hear from the Premier, you hear it from Minister Lecce, and that is making Ontario an energy superpower. And I always like to slightly adjust that, and say the province of Ontario is an energy superpower. Whether it’s our nuclear fleet, whether it’s our friends at Hydro One from a transmission point of view, whether it’s the work that we’re doing in critical minerals, whether it’s our work with Indigenous communities, whether it’s our work with our supply chain across Ontario, and most importantly, the auto plants, the steel plants, the aluminum plants, the families and businesses and homes that our energy sector provides, Ontario is an energy superpower.
And what I can tell you is in my role at Bruce Power, I’ve had the privilege of visiting a lot of places in the world that want to be energy superpowers. They all have challenges, and they all have opportunities. And I can tell you there’s not one jurisdiction in the world that I would trade places with, with what Ontario has. And I don’t think that’s just about being an energy superpower, I think that has to do with a lot of portions of our economy.
The other thought I want to leave with you today is one of the, any time you see the government ministers—I see Lisa Thompson, our MPP from Huron—Bruce here, Minister of Finance, here. Any time you see the ministers make announcements, there’s always a tag line they have right on the front of the podium, and it says “Protect Ontario.” And, you know, the “protect” is a very, very strong word. It’s actually a word that triggers a lot of emotion, when you think about it. Especially when you think about it in the context of issues this Premier has led us through, whether it was COVID-19, the current challenges with the U.S. But oftentimes, when we think of the word “protect,” the immediate word we go to is “defend,” protect and defend. And what I think you’re going to hear from the Premier today, and I think what you see from the government—and we all have to be a part of this—is protecting is not about defending in the sense of our best defense as a province is a good offense. And I think when this government talks about protecting, it’s about us being on our front foot, not our back foot.
So with that, I think the Premier’s office, I don’t usually follow a script, so they have a video they want to play now—because I don’t normally follow a script—but the video we’re going to play, Premier, that we’ll put up now just before we introduce the Premier.
[Video is shown]
So, I think that’s really a message of the best defense is a good offense. And with that, I’d like to welcome Ontario’s Premier, Doug Ford.
The Honourable Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario
Thank you. Well, first of all, I appreciate the applause, but it goes right back at each and every one of you. And boy, what a crowd. They told me, you know, Premier, you broke a record, but we still are number two to Billy Graham. I’ll take number two to Billy Graham any day, because my dad or family are massive fans of Billy Graham. But first of all, James, thank you so much. And Saurabh, thank you for everything that you do at the Empire Club. And James, thank you for keeping the lights on, the millions of homes and businesses across our province, as well as the great work you do with medical isotopes. They’re just blazing a new trail. So, I appreciate it.
It’s great to be joined here today. I always say my all-star team, and I’m so blessed to have them. Minister Bethlenfalvy, I call him tight as skin on a grape. You try to get a nickel out of this guy, it’s tough as nails, but thank God we have him, the best finance minister ever, in my opinion. He’s doing a great job. With his right-hand person, President of the Treasury, Minister Mulroney, sorry, Caroline, where are you? I see your brother, but there you go. They’re like a tag team, Caroline. But, you know, just one thing I wanted to point out, and there’s many things that they’ve accomplished, but you always look at your debt to GDP, and it has dropped drastically down to 36.2%. I always say continuous improvement, we have to keep bringing that down, but that was the 2024-25 fiscal year. That’s the lowest in 12 years. And then, thanks to Peter and Caroline, you know, 5.5% interest expenses to revenue, lowest in 40 years. Remember back in the 1990’s, when the federal government hit over $0.30 on the program dollar? So, borrowing costs matter. And thank you again, Peter and Caroline, for doing a great job.
I’m also joined by Minister [Indiscernible], Stan Cho, McGregor, Sarkaria, Lecce, Oosterhof, Thompson, Smith, McCarthy, and Dunlop—we could have like a cabinet meeting right here, right in the room—as well as all the other members of our caucus at Queen’s Park who are helping deliver on many of the priorities I’ll be discussing today. I also want to acknowledge some other folks that are with us today. My favourite Premier is Premier Mike Harris. My dad worked in his caucus, and Premier Harris, I want to thank you for all the work you did, and you continue to do. And you’re a great mentor. I also want to acknowledge former Minister Jason Kenney, and all the other elected officials from around the country.
Ben, I understand we’re going to have a good conversation. We’re going to sit down, and have a good chat. Be ready. I have a question for you, when we get up here. I won’t say what it is until you get up here. But, you know, folks, I also want to thank the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and the wonderful team here and staff for hosting us today. We wouldn’t even be able to put this on if it wasn’t for the great people that are serving us, and the cooks, and the organizers. So, I just want to thank everyone. So, if you think of the Convention Centre that, I know the chair is in the room, Justin, he wants to redo this along with the homeowners and the city and everyone else. But they attract more than 70 million visitors each year for great events just like this one.
You know, folks, the toughest job in this room right now is Jen, my teleprompter, because I’m going all over the map on her. So, Jen, hang in there. I just want to go offline here for a bit, as I did right from the beginning. But, you know, folks, I hope, first of all, everyone had a great Thanksgiving. And I had an opportunity to sit back this weekend, and think of what we’re grateful for and thankful for. And I’m very thankful, first of all, for the people of Ontario giving us the opportunity and the privilege to serve for another four years, I should say. And then I thought about my team, you know, Premier Harris, you probably won’t like that. My dad was part of that team, but you had an incredible team. But I think I’ve been blessed with the best team in politics that I can ever remember. It’s just one all-star, one after the other after the other, in every single ministry. And our bench is super, super deep. And I’m just blessed for that.
Someone came up to me on the weekend, and we’re chatting. You know, I was out and about, buying some food. We have a big family. We’re big eaters, as you can see. But, you know, someone came up and asked, you know, can you—I won’t get into it, but can you do this? And I said, well, I’ll look into it. But you have the power to do it. You’re the most powerful person. And I stopped the person in his tracks. I said, I’m not the most powerful person. I have the most, you know, I have the largest responsibility. And I said, if I surround myself with incredible people, like there are in this room, then we can do powerful things. And if you think of everyone in this room from every sector, it’s just unbelievable. And we can make it or break it from just people in this room, and the hundreds and hundreds of thousands of employees that you employ. And I know we can do it. We live in the greatest country in the entire world, bar none. We live in the greatest sub-sovereign nation in the world, bar none. And we can be the richest, most powerful, most secure jurisdiction anywhere in the entire world. But I’ll get into how we do this.
We’re here today to talk about Ontario’s economy. We can’t do so without acknowledging the elephant in the room. President Trump continues to take direct aim at Canada. Well, he’s going to really go after us now. I’m reading my speech. I just called him an elephant. But anyways, can’t call that guy any name. Anyways, he’s added and expanded tariffs on Canadian steel, autos, aluminum, lumber, and copper, just to name a few. He went off-kilter, and started to go after cabinet makers, and so on and so forth. By every measure, he seems intent on putting tariffs on pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, heavy trucks, film industry, and critical minerals.
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times, a tariff on Canada is nothing more than a tax on Americans. And I tell that to my American friends, I talk to the governors, senators, and congressmen and women every single day. Ironically, even Republicans, they don’t agree with that. They don’t agree with President Trump’s attack on his closest allies and friends. But unfortunately, they’re too scared—to the exception of a few senators—too scared to say anything. Yale University has put out the cost of tariffs at about $2,400 for every American household, and expects the American economy to shed nearly half a million jobs by the end of 2025. We’re already seeing the impact. American manufacturing employment has declined for five months in a row with 78,000 fewer manufacturing jobs in the U.S. today than a year ago.
And folks, I’m a big Ronald Reagan fan. So, you know, I’m going through all Ronald Reagan, and the great prime minister, Prime Minister Mulroney, at the time. And I approached my deputy chief, Travis, which is brilliant, as far as I’m concerned, and many others will say the same thing. And I call him Travi. I said, “Travi, let’s take Ronald Reagan’s words and let’s blast it to the American people.” And our first launch is going to be on every major network. Maybe one may not get it, and we’ll talk about that at a later date—no, it’s actually CNN, to be honest with you; they’re a little nervous, but Fox and other people. But we’re going to launch a $75 million ad, and we’re going to repeat that message to every Republican district there is right across the entire country. And we’re just going to speak the truth. But, you know, that ad, it’s not a nasty ad. It’s actually just very factual, and coming from a person like Ronald Reagan, every Republican is going to identify that voice. Maybe the younger Republicans can’t remember, but he was just the best president the country’s ever seen, in my opinion. In fact, factory employment in America is at the lowest level it’s been in five years.
This next one is staggering. The Center for Automotive Research in the U.S. says that President Trump’s tariffs on autos will raise the costs for American automakers by nearly 108 billion U.S. dollars in 2025. These kinds of enormous costs on businesses result in two outcomes, higher prices for American consumers, and fewer jobs for American workers, and inflation on the backs of American workers. Personally, if it were me, these aren’t the kind of numbers I’d want to bring into the midterms.
But there’s good news for President Trump. The fastest, surest, and easiest way to reverse America’s economic decline? End the tariffs. Make a deal with Canada, your number one customer in the entire world. I know you sometimes hear the greatest joke, “We’re number two trading partners.” No, no, no, no. We’re the number one customer. And they always put Mexico there, because Americans buy more goods off Mexico, but no country buys more goods off the U.S. than Canada does.
This past winter, staring down President Trump’s tariffs, our government was re-elected with a historic third majority mandate, a mandate to implement our plan to protect Ontario. The people of Ontario sent our government back to Queen’s Park to do whatever it takes to protect our workers, businesses, and communities. And to transform Ontario’s economy into the most competitive place in the G7 to invest and create jobs. And I’ve always said that. We have to create the environment and conditions for companies to come here, and thrive, and grow, and prosper. Because when companies thrive, grow, and prosper, so do the people that work there.
And that’s why I’ve always been mentioning the Prime Minister Carney, and our team. We have to put money back into businesses’ pockets. Because what they do when they have more money in their pockets, they go out and they invest it into technology, into their people, into infrastructure, into new equipment. And that creates a stronger economy. It creates an opportunity to hire more people. Nothing’s worse, nothing is worse, than taking money out of businesses’ pockets, and people’s pockets. Matter of fact, the worst place you give your money is to the government. Because I feel that you can invest it a lot wiser and smarter than the government. And that applies, as well, for the people. You keep taxing people to death, they’re going to hold on to every single penny. If you put money back into their pockets, they’re going to stir the economy. As simple as going out for dinner, maybe buying your kids a new pair of sneakers, or jeans, or whatever. That’s what stirs the economy.
And before the election, we found three billion dollars, and we brought it to cabinet and caucus, and we’re the only government in the history of this country that I believe that sat down and within a minute, when Peter said, “Yeah, we have these three billion dollars, what should we do?” Every single person said, “Give it back to the people. It’s not our money.” Every other government, municipal or provincial or federal, thinks it’s their God-given right to keep the taxpayers’ money. We don’t believe that. We believe giving it back to the people, giving it back to businesses, that’s what stirs the economy. So we can be more resilient, more self-reliant, and take on whatever challenge comes our way.
Our plan to protect Ontario is cutting red tape and regulations to streamline approvals. It’s building pipelines, rail lines, ports, roads, highways and transmission lines, to diversify our trading partners, and find new customers in new markets, so we can rely less on old ones. Our plan to protect Ontario is tearing down internal trade barriers. It’s creating new jobs and opportunities for Ontario workers by unleashing the enormous economic potential of the Ring of Fire, and building the future of nuclear power, including the first Small Modular Reactors in the G7, and new large-scale nuclear facilities.
And I have to give Minister Lecce a shout-out. He’s doing an incredible job. I call him the energizer bunny. He just keeps going and going and going. No matter if it’s expanding, the largest expansion of energy in the history of this country—and probably in North America—or making sure we cut the red tape when it comes to critical minerals.
So, our plan on energy and the goal for Minister Lecce is to create 16,000 more megawatts. Now, a lot of people are thinking, now what does 16,000 megawatts get you? Well, I’ll tell you quickly the way I calculate it. For every 1,000 megawatts, that powers a million homes. But we know we aren’t going to need 16 million homes. But what sucks energy? Data centres, right? They’ll take 1,000 minimum megawatts, or companies.
And our neighbours to the south, our great neighbours to the south. I love the U.S. I love the American people. I spent 20 years of my life in our Chicago facility, New Jersey facility. It’s not the American people. It’s one person, and that’s President Trump. They want our energy. They need our energy. We keep the lights on in businesses and homes to 1.5 million people, just Ontario alone. In Minnesota, great, great governor, great people up there. Michigan, which I just met the governor last week. And of course, New York State. But they want more of our energy. And I have no problem, as long as we create a fair deal for everyone across the board.
I always believe in the Amcan Fortress, we’re stronger together, we’ll be the two greatest countries in the world. Rather than fighting over trade, let’s work together, and folks, we will come out on top. The best way to support a worker displaced by President Trump’s tariffs is to ensure there’s a job waiting for them in a growing industry.
Friends, our plan to protect Ontario is a plan that offers big and bold ideas. It takes hard luck at challenges holding us back, and puts forward real solutions. It’s a vision for the future of our great province, and a vision for the future of our economy. Well, it’s been 209 days since our government was sworn in, and our team is busy at work. There’s one thing about our team, folks, we are all workaholics. Like, I’m telling you, workaholics. I’m calling my ministers at 11 o’clock at night, as we’re getting these calls in, and shooting off messages. And everyone’s up, and they’re still going, they’re responding. So again, I want to thank our team, best team ever assembled in recent memory.
Here’s a small sample of what we’ve done since March, and it’s a very small sample—I’d be here for another hour, if we put everything down. But we’ve provided nearly $30 billion in immediate support for trade and tariff impacted workers and businesses, including the launch of the new $1 billion Protect Ontario Financing Program, which is already helping businesses make payroll, and weather the economic storm. We’ve launched new power centres, helping laid off workers displaced by tariffs and economic uncertainty get the support and training they need to re-enter the workforce. We’ve added a billion dollars more to the Skills Development Fund, bringing our total investment in the program to $2.5 billion, helping—and that’s Joe Mancinelli from LiUNA. Thank you, Joe, for every person you’ve trained and all the other unions that we’re supporting. Helping one million people get the skills they need for a better job, and a bigger paycheck in the trades, and other in-demand sectors. We’ve signed agreements with 10 other provinces and territories to advance internal free trade, helping to add $200 billion to Canada’s economy, and add up to 6% to the GDP, and signed an agreement with Alberta and Saskatchewan to build pipelines and rail lines to bring Western Canadian oil and gas and Ontario’s critical minerals to new markets.
We’ve introduced a new as-of-right labour mobility rules, the first of their kind in Canada, that are getting skilled workers from other provinces and territories into jobs as soon as they arrive. We’re launching One Project, One Process, to streamline approvals for mining projects, to reduce government review time by 50% —I think we’re even knocking it down even quicker. As Minister Lecce is working hard, it used to take 15 years to get a permit. Well, the ROI on that is not realistic, so they just go and invest in another area. We’re going to bring it down to under 24 months, to compete against every other jurisdiction right across the region.
And do you know who plays a critical role in that? Our great relationship and our partners in the First Nations communities. They’re very progressive Chiefs out there that want to move, and keep moving, and let’s get things done, and have an equity partnership, and have their communities trained. We put over $70 million in the window, $3 billion of equity, and $10 million of scholarships. When I talk to the Chiefs, there’s nothing more than they want is prosperity for the next generation that’s coming up, and we’re there to support them.
We’ve passed legislation to create new special economic zones, a powerful new tool to significantly speed up approvals for major projects that will create jobs, grow our economy, and make our province more resilient. We made the gas tax cut permanent. You know, Peter, I always wish we could put up a sign, because people forget about it. That gas would be 10.7 cents more, if we didn’t put that permanent cut in. And I have a whole issue about the gas. If anyone noticed, at nighttime by my place, it was $1.17, and in the morning, mysteriously, it jumps up to $1.31. But we’ll have a chat about that another day. I don’t want to rail off on the gas companies right now.
We made the gas cuts permanent, as I said, and eliminated tolls on every provincially-owned highway, saving daily commuters on Highway 407 East over $7,200 each and every year. We’ve increased our plan to build more than $220 billion of infrastructure. I know Minister Surma, she just took maternity leave. She had a beautiful little girl a couple weeks ago. But she’s done an incredible job in building infrastructure right across our great province, that makes it the largest plan of its kind in Canadian history to build the roads, the bridges, highways, hospitals, homes, public transit, and schools that are growing province needs.
And we’ve connected more than over 100,000 people to family doctors, and primary care teams, and issued calls for proposals to connect hundreds of thousands of more. And I want to give Sylvia Jones, my Minister of Health and Deputy Premier, a shout out. She’s not here today. What an incredible partner. I couldn’t ask for anyone better, and she’s doing an incredible job. Folks, I always say—and I always get the leads off, be it the CEOs of hospitals, frontline docs, frontline nurses, frontline health care workers. We’re spending over $91 billion in healthcare. When we took office—Peter, correct me if I’m wrong—I think it was about $60 billion, and we’ve seen massive, massive increases. Now, we have to change things. We have to make sure that we produce results, and make sure that we have a lean system.
You know, folks, I studied Lean Six Sigma for years in the U.S., and we brought a team of experts, we call them our Lean Team, into the province. The first jurisdiction anywhere in North America that actually has 24 blackbelts that go into every single ministry and drive standardizations, drives efficiencies right across the board, and focuses on Kaizen events. It’s amazing what you see when we send our—I call them the SWAT team, the blackbelts in. We’ll take two or three, send them in one ministry, another three, but I just want to thank the whole team there, and the master blackbelt that’s heading it up. They’re doing an incredible job. But I couldn’t do my job, and none of us could do our job in cabinet if it wasn’t for the Secretary of Cabinet, Michelle DeBanyo. I absolutely love Michelle. She’s doing a great job. And I always say, Michelle, it’s not the people in government, it’s a system. We need to change the system. Faster, quicker, immediate. And Michelle works 24/7. I call her about seven days a week, no matter Saturday or Sunday. And I’m just so blessed, and I know our whole team is blessed. And it’s a big, big machine, the Ontario Public Service. But she’s making, I always say, don’t break the rules, change the rules. And when you change the rules, then we can get things done. So thank you, Michelle. I don’t know if she’s here, but if she isn’t, I’ll give her big hugs when I see her back at the ranch.
Next week, the Ontario Legislature returns for its fall sitting. When it does, our government will be ready to continue to deliver on our plan to protect Ontario, and continue the work to make our province more competitive, more resilient, and more self-reliant. Doing so will mean tough choices and hard work. Decades after decade, successive governments at all levels, in every political stripe, added layer after layer of red tape and regulations. Each time, they made it more and more difficult for businesses to grow, and invest, and create jobs. Each time, they made Ontario less competitive, less resilient, and less self-reliant.
With so much economic uncertainty, and with President Trump’s tariffs, we’ve had to take action. And if we want to be more competitive, if we want to be more resilient and more self-reliant, we have to fix the plumbing of Ontario’s economy. We need full-scale, permanent reform right across the board. Over the last several months, my minister, Andrea Khanjin, which is an absolute champion. And she’s cut, what, about $1.2 billion out of red tape and regulations. And she’s probably corrected me on the numbers. What is that, about a million-and-a-half working hours, or there and abouts. It’s massive. Andrea, you’ve done an incredible job. She was even working with her cabinet colleagues to identify business-facing permits and approvals that are making Ontario’s economy less competitive. And who do we rely on the most? We rely on every sector, for you folks in this room to come to us, to call us up, and say, “This is duplicated by the federal government,” or, “This red tape or regulation doesn’t belong,” and we instantly cut it. So, please, send your ideas to our office, to Andrea’s office, and we’ll make sure unnecessary regulations, we just move them away.
There’s hundreds of them, and they total over one million approvals each year for business. Just imagine that, over a million approvals. Over the coming years, with action starting this coming session, we will be relentless in our work to eliminate and streamline the most costly permits. For any that remain that are absolutely necessary, we will implement clear and accountable service standards and timelines. I love KPIs. That’s what I live on. Just show me the numbers. I’m a numbers guy. Show me the numbers. Numbers don’t lie. And so far, we’re going to continue making our province more competitive.
We want to give businesses the certainty they need to invest, and we won’t stop there. Our government will continue to make progress, tearing down internal trade barriers by further expanding, as of right, labour mobility rules to more professions, and activating mutual recognition with ready provinces. We’ll finalize the implementation of our common-sense changes to species-at-risk rules, to protect our natural habitat, while speeding up and building of our factories, our homes, transit, highways, and other critical infrastructure. Instead of picking a handful of special projects to move ahead here or there, we’ll cut red tape across the board, to make it easier for everyone to invest in Ontario, build new businesses, and create new jobs.
You know, folks, we’re blessed to have Vic Fedeli. You know, he’s just doing a great job, Minister of Economic Development and Trade. That guy is on the plane all over the world nonstop, and he’s in Germany one day, he’s over in Asia the next, and he’s back over to Europe, and then down in the U.S. and South America. Every single night, 365 days a year, he texts me an update, or we talk. And he said, “Premier, our pipeline is full.” I know there’s uncertainty, there’s tough times right now, but our pipeline is full. They look at Ontario as a safe haven to invest, a government that is pro-business, anti-regulations, and making sure we’re cutting taxes, and we’re taking the burden off of companies by $12 billion a year.
But we have a couple charts, and it goes through InvestOntario, which Joe Mancinelli sits on—and Joe, thank you, and probably other people in this room. But the amount of companies that want to invest is staggering, and the work that you have in front of you. And we break it down to categories, like under $100 million, next category $500 million, and then the billion-dollar funnel. And all of them are absolutely jammed right now with companies wanting to come here to Ontario.
Just over the last few weeks, we’ve seen $1.6 billion come and invest. And if you look at last year, not including the companies that are here that are investing, that may not call us up and tell us, last year we attracted over 409 companies investing $40 billion—$39.8 to be exact, billion dollars, and creating over 25,000 jobs. That’s what I talk about when I say let’s create the environment and conditions.
And I’ve mentioned this to the Prime Minister over and over again. Let’s cut business taxes. And I know my great finance minister, very astute businessperson, feels the same way. But we can’t go it alone. We can’t go it alone. We need the federal government not only cut business taxes to make ourselves most competitive, but we also have to cut personal taxes. And it goes back to my philosophy, put money into people’s pockets and businesses, and they’ll invest. But we’ll stay on the Prime Minister—at least I’ll stay on him like an 800-pound gorilla—we’ll stay focused on finding more ways to lower cost, fees and taxes for workers, families and businesses. And at a time when President Trump is threatening our auto and steel sectors, we’ll mandate the use of Ontario-made materials and government procurement and Ontario-made vehicles for government fleets, so Ontario tax dollars support Ontario workers. We’ll continue to invest in new, resilient and growing industries, including Ontario’s nuclear and critical mineral advantage, creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs, including for workers hurt by President Trump’s tariffs.
And friends, with so much dysfunction, with so much abuse of taxpayers’ dollars, we’ll do whatever it takes to make sure school boards are accountable to their most fundamental responsibility, and that is student achievement and student successes. I want to thank Minister Paul Calandra, Minister of Education, we’ve sat down. And once this starts rolling out, you’ll fall off your chair when you see the abuse of taxpayers’ money. It doesn’t matter if it’s iPhone watches, or, you know, five laptops for their kids, or ordering ice cream, you know, at two o’clock in the morning, and burgers, it’s just the abuse. Or my favourite is going to Italy—and I love Italians, by the way, that’s the only mangia cake in my neighbourhood, but anyways—you know, going to Italy, these school trustees, to spend $120,000 of taxpayers’ money, to buy $100,000 of beautiful Italian artwork to bring to their school. Last schools I’ve been to, they have the kids’ pictures on the walls, not $100,000, and a junket of $120,000. Or, let’s all go out to the Blue Jays game on taxpayers’ money, and spend $22,000 for a box, and go out there and have a great time. But the list goes on, and on, and on. But we’re going to make sure they’re held accountable.
It goes without saying, we can’t do this alone. We need the support and cooperation of the federal government. The best way they can help us, and I’ve mentioned this to the Prime Minister, get out of our way. That starts by ending federal regional assessments in the Ring of Fire, which are only duplicating the amazing work of First Nations partners in the region, and slowing down, getting shovels in the ground, building the roads to the Ring of Fire.
And I just want to qualify that it wasn’t Prime Minister Carney that put these hurdles in. It was former Prime Minister Trudeau that just put hurdle after hurdle after hurdle with the Ring of Fire. And no matter if it’s 413 hurdles, I’ve never seen anything like it. And thank God, Prime Minister Carney is a business person. He’s promised to help make Canada an energy—or I’m going to rephrase this, to continue to make Canada and Ontario an energy superpower. He’s promised to get things built, big things built. There’s no better way to do so than by unleashing the full economic potential of critical minerals in the Ring of Fire.
Folks, that will bring $22 billion added to Canada’s economy, 70,000 new jobs, just for the beginning, just at the get-go. And there’s endless critical minerals. We have more critical minerals in the Ring of Fire than any other jurisdiction in the entire world. The Ring of Fire is a generational economic opportunity. I take the Prime Minister at his word. I truly believe he’s a good man. I truly believe he’s very, very honest. He has his hands full. I actually kind of feel sorry sometimes for him going in there, just cleaning up the absolute mess from the previous Prime Minister, and just working with his colleagues and dealing with government. I always say the biggest challenge that we’re going to be facing is government, is making sure that we get rid of all the hurdles and regulations, and start moving. But we’re there to support him. I’m there to support him. I know the other premiers are there to support him. I guess I’m going to be chatting with them on Thursday. He’s going to drop by. We’ll have a good chat. And I always say he’s a smart business guy, Goldman Sachs guy, Brookfield, Bank of Canada, Bank of England, so on and so forth. But I did tell the Prime Minister, you know Mark, your biggest challenge is going to be the government and the bureaucracy. And sometimes—and not in my case, we have a great team—but sometimes the old regime from Trudeau that just believes in just slowing everything down. But I know with everyone’s support, he will succeed.
Now, it’s time for action. End the redundant federal assessments. Friends, we’re living in extraordinary times right now. This isn’t a fight we’ve asked for, but it’s a fight we need to be prepared to win. The best way to do so, the best way to win, is to unleash our economy. The best way to win is to make ourselves more competitive, more resilient, and more self-reliant. Together, alongside municipalities, workers, unions, First Nations, businesses, Ontario’s Public Service, and all levels of government, and every single person in this room, we’re going to emerge from this stronger and more reunited than ever before. Together, we’re going to protect Ontario. I want to thank you for coming today, and may God bless the people of Ontario. Thank you so much.
Andrew Wallace, Managing Director and Head, Real Estate Investment Banking, National Bank Financial Markets
Thank you, Premier Ford, for that very important message. My name is Andrew Wallace. I represent the National Bank. I know my best move here is to be quick. We’re proud to sponsor the luncheon on behalf of National Bank, and it’s over 30,000 employees across the country, I wish to express our sincere appreciation for you, for your leadership and commitment to protecting the people of Ontario, but also of Canada.
National Bank is proudly Canadian, and looks to foster opportunities for business leaders to engage in these types of discussions. Our CEO has actually raised his voice, and is also calling for Mr. Carney to lower corporate taxes. We need to be braver as Canadians to get into this dialogue. We believe in this country. We believe in Canada. We believe we all need to work together to bring investment to Canada. We want to help our clients do that. We’re very excited that you’re so motivated.
It’s also my task to introduce my friend, Ben Mulroney. Ben will serve as the moderator for the rest of the afternoon here. Ben is widely recognized as one of Canada’s most likable media personalities, which I think is hard to do in the media. You can catch him on the Ben Mulroney show on 640. He’s joined the West Block Gang on Global Television. For those that don’t follow Ben on social media, I encourage you to do so. His commentary is entertaining and insightful. I appreciate it when his brothers get in on the arguments, and help defend Ben from the trolls. Ben, please come up.
Ben Mulroney
Well, thank you very much. I’ve got to say, you draw a far bigger crowd than Minister Lecce.
The Hon. Doug Ford
I love Lecce. I really love him. He’s amazing.
Ben Mulroney
You had a question for me, sir.
The Hon. Doug Ford
Well, I might as well. Just between us, 1,300 people and your sister, when or why are you going to be running for mayor of Toronto? Because we need something going down there. Just curious.
Ben Mulroney
Well…
The Hon. Doug Ford
I’m sure a lot of people in this room would vote for you, raise money and support you.
Ben Mulroney
…well, thank you. I’ve always said that municipal politics is the closest level of politics to my heart. But I’m very busy these days, sir. I don’t know if you saw the piece of paper in front of you. I’m a celebrated television and radio host. But I recently, sir, I took, I listened to my greatest fans online, and I decided I’m now the founder of a new organization called the Canadian Nepo Baby Success Network. Because sometimes being born on third base isn’t enough. And as soon as our incoming president comes back from his trip to California, we are going to hit the ground running. And so, no, I would like to very much one day, but I’m a little busy doing the things I love doing. And thank you very much for having me.
The Hon. Doug Ford
That’s a real politician speaking, dodging around. You come from great stock.
Ben Mulroney
Yeah.
The Hon. Doug Ford
I loved your dad. I absolutely loved him. He’s a great man. He’d call me up, and pump me up all the time. And boy, do I miss him. And I used to go to Caroline, your dad just got me going again. I felt like door knocking every time we hung up from each other. And boy, we miss him.
Ben Mulroney
I miss him every day. But if I can say, as much and as hard as my sister works on behalf of her constituents and the people of Ontario, she is the glue that keeps our family together. Without her, we are just, we are far less than what we could be. She also cooks the single greatest Thanksgiving meal in the history of Thanksgiving meals. And I thank her for always welcoming us in her home.
The Hon. Doug Ford
Yeah. She’s a champion.
Ben Mulroney
Mr. Premier.
The Hon. Doug Ford
Yes.
Ben Mulroney
Thank you for having me here. Give us a sense, if you could, of where we stand in this tariff battle with the United States. From an outsider’s perspective, it does feel, to use an expression from earlier today, that we are constantly on our back heel, because we’re always reacting to something new coming from the President, or from someone on his team—case in point, Howard Lutnick here in Toronto just a few, just less than two weeks ago.
The Hon. Doug Ford
Yeah. So, you know something, when you’re dealing with President Trump or Howard Lutnick, it’s challenging. And I just, I thought Prime Minister Carney did a good job. It’s about building relationships. But President Trump could agree to something one day; he’ll wake up and change his mind the next day, and you won’t even know what hit you. And I mentioned to the Prime Minister, you know, yes, we have to strike a deal with the U.S. But you can’t get rolled over by this guy. We’re an economic powerhouse with the U.S. We’re their number one customer. We buy over $356 billion a year, U.S., number one customer in the entire world. Ontario alone is the number one trading partner, and I always like saying customer, to 15 states, number two to 12 other states. We do $500 billion, a two-way trade alone with the U.S. So, if, you know, if he can’t get a deal, we have to hit back. We just have to.
And I’m not speaking on behalf of any premier, but my good friend Scott Moe, you know, he has the uranium, he has the potash. The uranium keeps their 94 nuclear facilities going down in the U.S. The potash could devastate U.S. agriculture. Ourselves, nickel, 60% of the high-grade nickel comes from Sudbury; that’s used for their military, for aerospace, for manufacturing. This is just to name a few, not to mention our aluminum, and our steel, and so on and so forth. So, I would definitely not roll over. I’d hit him back hard, in my opinion, and that’s what he understands. He can’t be bullied, and he shouldn’t be bullied, but it’s a tough position Prime Minister Carney is in. But I’m glad they’re building a relationship.
Ben Mulroney
Well, reducing the impact of tariffs on the Canadian economy was only part of sort of the broader Canadian strategy of weathering this storm. And one of the aspects, one of the other aspects was reducing interprovincial trade barriers. And the federal government had a stated goal of reducing all of them by July 1st. I know that we haven’t necessarily hit that target, but there are a lot of moving parts in that. How would you assess where we are nationally, on that massive project?
The Hon. Doug Ford
Well, we’re moving along really, really in a fast manner. We led the country in making an agreement with 10 provinces and territories, and we have a few more to go, be it Québec and Newfoundland—I’m sorry, 11. We still have Québec and Newfoundland to go, and great, great premiers. And what that does, to give you an idea, the majority of the people in Canada didn’t even realize we had a Canadian free trade agreement amongst provinces. They didn’t realize you couldn’t ship a case of wine from B.C. over to Ontario, or vice versa. We do $340 billion of trade, Ontario does, with all other provinces and territories. And as I mentioned, it’ll add $200 billion to our economy and 6% to our GDP. And we were the first government to get rid of the exceptions right across the board, to open it up. So hopefully, the federal government, I know they said they’d get it done soon. But we have to make sure they get it done immediately.
Ben Mulroney
With Ontario taking a leadership position on something like that, it’s almost like a leap of faith. You have to say to the other provinces, we’re willing to give this up, something that we’ve been protecting our piece of the pie for so long. We’re willing to give up that piece of the pie. But in order for the pie to grow, everybody has to follow our lead. Have you sensed that that is the case? You said that there’s two provinces that are holdouts. But have you sensed that, more or less, they are willing to agree that if we give up these little pieces that we’re holding on to, the pie itself will grow?
The Hon. Doug Ford
Well, we’re the largest market. I’m a free trader. I believe that we should all work together. And it increases the cost, if we don’t do this, by 15% on our products. And Newfoundland, they’re scared about their fisheries going over to Nova Scotia, and being processed in Nova Scotia. I get it. Premier Légault, I have a great relationship, smart businessman. He wants to have his own little proposal, so we’ll work with him. And then we’ll have all 13 of us on the same page.
Ben Mulroney
So tariff strategy, interprovincial trade barriers. The third part of the strategy was to build out Canadian infrastructure. And the Liberals suggested the projects of national importance. The first five, the initial tranche of that list came out recently. Darlington was on that list. Now, critics would say Darlington was already well in development, didn’t need a push from the feds. The other criticism that I’ve heard levied is, and you referenced it in your speech, was sort of the burdenist regulatory system put in place by the Trudeau Liberals. It seems like—and this is the criticism that I’ve heard—that the response by this incarnation of the Liberal government has been to overlay that old innovation-killing regulatory body and system with a new system to speed things up. But the things that it speeds up are projects that are hand-picked by the Liberal government and the Liberal government alone. Is that a fair criticism?
The Hon. Doug Ford
It’s fair, and it’s accurate. But we’re going to work hand-in-hand with the Prime Minister, and I know Minister Lecce will work with his colleagues. Tim Hodgson, which I think is another great, great, super-bright minister, and I know Prime Minister Carney is fortunate to have him. It’s his old Goldman Sachs buddy, and they used to call him “killer” when he was on the floor, so—but he’s no-nonsense, get things done. But you can’t just put lipstick on a pig and just try to cover it up. They have to come up with new ideas, get rid of the regulatory burden that’s costing us, you know, massive, massive amounts of money.
As I mentioned to Prime Minister Carney, yes, we’ve got to worry about Trump. But for now, let’s start focusing on what we can do. What can we do as a country to make ourselves more competitive by lowering corporate taxes, lowering personal taxes, getting rid of all the regulations and the burden, and unleash our country? That’s what we need to do, and stop worrying about what, you know, Prime Minister Trudeau did for 10 years. This is a fresh start for him, and he has to just keep moving.
And the other thing is, they have to move faster and quicker, as quickly as possible, and [Indiscernible] there, he’s a smart guy, too. He’s a really smart guy. But sometimes government can just overwhelm you. So, we need to start moving as quickly as possible, and get things done, and we’re going to be there to support him every step of the way.
Ben Mulroney
We’re hearing that the next tranche of projects of national importance are going to be unveiled before the Grey Cup. Are you hopeful? Are you hoping that the Ring of Fire is on that list?
The Hon. Doug Ford
Well, he told me he would be. I take him for his word, right? I’m all about a handshake, and when someone tells you they’re going to do something, you do it. It’s no different than ourselves. When we say we’re going to do something, we get it done. So we’re going to work with them, and….
Ben Mulroney
Well, let’s assume for a second it is on the list. What happens the day after that announcement?
The Hon. Doug Ford
Well, then we start moving and getting things done. Actually, the preliminary work’s already being done.
Ben Mulroney
Yeah.
The Hon. Doug Ford
We’re already starting the road to the Ring of Fire with Webequie, up in the far north in Aroland. Chief Sonny is just a fabulous chief, very progressive thinker. So, they want to start, which they’re doing right now. And I’m going to take a quick trip up there to, again, be there to support him any way we can.
Ben Mulroney
I had Premier Danielle Smith on my radio show last week, and I asked her the differences of working as a Premier with the Trudeau Liberals versus the Mark Carney Liberals. And she said pragmatism was the biggest change, that she felt that there was a more pragmatic approach to government. It was far less ideological, at least in these early days. What’s your assessment?
The Hon. Doug Ford
I agree. You’re dealing with a business person that’s learning government, but we’re there to support him about government. And he understands where he has to go. We just have to move quicker and faster on everything across the board. Great personality, takes your calls, takes your messages, returns them right away. Folks, I don’t care. I’m a staunch fiscal conservative, staunch. But I don’t give two hoots about political stripes. I just don’t. And don’t get me wrong. I’m so proud to be the leader of the PC party, but I’ll work with anyone. And I think I’ve shown, it doesn’t matter if it’s an NDP mayor, or a Liberal leader, and that’s the same right across our country. We have NDP premiers, which I get along very well with, Liberal premiers, and Conservative premiers, and we all work well together.
Ben Mulroney
You have demonstrated an ability to work with anybody and, in fact, build friendships and relationships to the benefit of the people of Ontario. Who has surprised you, from a personality perspective? Let’s put policy aside. You’re the dean of the, around the premier’s table. Which premier has surprised you, in terms of how well you get along well with them?
The Hon. Doug Ford
Well, two I get along very well with, Huston, and Premier Scott Moe. Scott was the first person I met who, we’re like-minded, so was Tim Huston. They’re great, but I love Wab Kinew, too. I always tell Wab, “You’re politically misguided.” He sounds like a Conservative when he speaks, but he’s an absolute champion. We went through, Scott and I sat at the table the other day, and we wondered how many premiers we went through, since we were elected. We’re kind of a senior states people. And we counted 22 premiers we went through. But we have a good team, a really good team that we work with right now.
Ben Mulroney
Well, actually, I’m glad that you mentioned Manitoba and Saskatchewan, because I want to return to tariffs, but not American tariffs, but the Chinese tariffs.
The Hon. Doug Ford
Yeah.
Ben Mulroney
On this one file, it does seem like a crack is appearing in the Team Canada approach. Both Manitoba and Saskatchewan have requested that the federal government remove the 100% tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, in the hopes of restoring normalcy to our relationship with China, as well as to the canola industry. You’ve gone on record against this tactic. Tell us why.
The Hon. Doug Ford
Well, first of all, you know, I had a conversation the other day. Scott called me up and said, “Hey, I’ve got to protect my province.” I get it. I get why Wab Kinew and Scott are saying, you know, drop the tariffs. But I have to do the same thing, and I respect their sector, they ship about $4.9 billion to China on canola. Well, look at our auto sector. It’s 157,000 workers, direct jobs, indirect. Multiply that by four times. We’ve seen over $46 billion of new investments. So, I respect what they’re doing. But there’s no damn way we should drop tariffs on China, I’ll tell you that. Absolutely not.
Ben Mulroney
I think one of the reasons, Mr. Premier, that you resonate with the people at home—I can’t speak for the people in this room, but for the people at home–is your willingness to demonstrate and show people how emotional this tariff war with the Americans has made you. Because I think a lot of people at home connect with you on that front. They feel that, as well. And last week, I really did see, I saw that, a prime example of it, as it related to the comments made by Howard Lutnick, and the impact of, if his dream comes to pass, what that means for the people of Oshawa, for the people of the auto industry in this province. I mean, it feels to me like this is a crisis for the automotive sector in Ontario, the likes of which we have never seen before. How are you approaching that?
The Hon. Doug Ford
Well, first of all, I want to give a shout out to Flavio Volpe, which is in the room. The guy’s an absolute champion, he’s been leading the charge, and he’s doing a great job. But I think, absolutely. It’s become very personal, not just myself, but every single Canadian. Every Canadian knows a friend, a neighbour, a relative that lives in the US, or a business partner. And Howard Lutnick, you know, a smart business person, he has to learn politics as well, but he has to get on the page with the President. The President’s saying one thing, that he wants both auto sectors to thrive, and Howard Lutnick’s saying we’re going to build autos. Well, I’ll tell you, it’s going to kill the auto manufacturers down there. All of them have come out and said they’ve already lost a billion dollars because of free trade. It’s so intertwined, the Auto Pact’s been around since the 1960’s, and as you’ve heard many times, auto parts will go back and forth six, seven, eight times. And I always say, you can’t unscramble an egg that’s been around since 1960; you have to make the omelette larger.
And I’ve also said, informed our American friends, that we buy 400% more vehicles than anyone in the entire world. And the vehicles that we buy off them, we produce roughly, and it varies, about 1.7 million autos a year. And 50% of them have American parts. So, it’s going to devastate the auto sector in the US. But we’re going to survive. We’re going to become more creative, and come up with new ideas. And that’s what we’re going to do. But the auto sector has been here for 100 years, and it will always be here for the next 100 years.
Ben Mulroney
As somebody who reports on the rise of violent crime on my radio show far too often for my liking. You know, the issues of criminal justice reform are top of mind for me, as I’m sure they are for so many people in this room. What are you hearing from Ottawa, in terms of what their plans are for criminal justice reform? Because just last week, the Tories put forth a bill, a C-242, a Bail Not Jail Act, which got voted down. But that was followed quickly by the Liberals vowing that the Conservatives would be very happy with what’s coming down the pike, with a far more comprehensive second look at criminal justice reform. What have you asked for from Ottawa, and what have they told you about what’s coming down the pike?
The Hon. Doug Ford
Well, first of all, I want to give a big shout out to my Attorney General, Doug Downey, an amazing Attorney General; my Solicitor General, Michael Kerzner, that’s working with their colleagues. I know Doug Downey has been working with Minister Fraser as their Auditor General, but our message to them, very simple, is don’t have a watered down bail system. People are done, folks. We’re out in the field every day, we’re doing polls. I’ve never seen crime go from eighth, eighth out of ten, up to number one beside economy and healthcare. People are done with this crime. Everyone in this room knows someone that got their car stolen, or a home invasion. You know, we experienced it down the street, just in my little neighbourhood. Four home invasions. They kick the door in, they put guns to people’s heads, terrorize them for their, for the keys, and then they steal their keys. And guess what happens when they get caught? They go in front of the judge, and the judge says, “Oh, little Johnny didn’t mean to do this. We’re going to let him out on bail.” He doesn’t let him out on bail once. This is a fourth, fifth, sixth time. There has to be consequences when you do violent crimes. The poor family in Kleinberg, you know, just imagine trying to protect your four-year-old daughter when these punks have a gun to her head. And he gets shot in front of his three kids and his wife. They won’t be able to live in the home. That’s going to impact the kids their whole lives. And there has to be accountability. And that’s what we need. We need tough bail reform.
Not only that. We need mandatory sentences, so when a criminal goes in with a gun, you know you’re doing X amount of years, whatever it is, ten years. But their argument, the Liberals are saying, “Well, you know, Harper tried that.” No, no. Harper did a broad brush across everything. Let’s start focusing on areas. And to be very frank, the judiciary system should not be interfering in policies. It’s not their house that is getting broken into. You know, again, we have to make sure that we set mandatory sentences. You go in with a gun, you’re getting ten years.
The last part, what’s happening—because I get updates on a daily basis from frontline police officers, and the chiefs around the province, and the commissioner. So now, the older crooks are giving guns to 16, 17, and 18-year-olds, to go in there, and saying, “Nothing will happen to you.” And do you know what’s a shame? Nothing does happen to them. So, they kick in the door with a gun. We have to change the Young Offenders Act. And it can’t be, you know—I can tell you everyone in this room, myself included, when you’re 16, 17, 18, you know that going into a house and kicking the door in with a gun, like, that is not good. And there’s too many judges that are just bleeding hearts that, “Oh, we’ve got to give them a second chance.” No, these are troublemakers. These kids need to be sentenced, and they need to learn. Before they go in, there are consequences, when you go in with a gun on a violent crime.
I’m not talking about the chocolate bars, and everything else being stolen. But what is ticking me off—and they’re pretty brazen, and it starts the old broken window theory with Mayor Giuliani years ago. They’re walking in, like, I mean all the retailers, they’re walking in with shopping carts, and they’re just loading up their carts—no matter if it’s the LCBO, or Home Depot, or Walmart, or anything—and they’re stealing goods. And they can’t do anything. The security guards can’t do anything. You know, can I tell a little story…
Ben Mulroney
Please.
The Hon. Doug Ford
…a two-minute story?
Ben Mulroney
Please.
The Hon. Doug Ford
So, a couple months ago, I pull in—I escape for my detail at eight o’clock in the morning before they come, and it ticks them off. So I hop in my pickup, and I want to go to Home Depot, it was on a Saturday, and I pull up, and I wanted to get some plants—actually, it was the weekend before the Prime Minister came, I want to get plants for the cottage. So, I load it up, and I pulled up right by the nursery—I think the majority have been to a Home Depot—so I pull right up, I load up all the plants, and I’m ready to pull out, and here’s this guy with a backpack, and you know, a bag. And he’s walking out, and the store manager’s yelling at him, you know, “Come back, come back,” and the security guard’s there. And I said, “Well, go get him.” “We aren’t allowed to go get them.” And so, he went around the side of where all the plants, and outside the parking lot. So I was in my car, and I said, “Screw this, I’m going after this guy.”
So, by this time, my heart’s beating, I’m ticked off, so I go racing behind, no one can see, and I pull up behind him, I jump in on the car, I said, “Buddy, what’s in your bag?” “Nothing’s in my bag.” I said, “Buddy, I’m going to kick your ass all over the parking lot. Show me what’s in your bag.” I did. I couldn’t help myself. And so, I said, “Buddy, come over here,” and “Nothing’s in my bag”. And so, he’s starting—now by this time, the store manager comes, and he’s on fire. You know, he’s cursing and swearing—I guess I threw in a couple colourful language, too. And so, he’s emptying out his bag. And all of a sudden—so he said, “Nothing’s here”. I said, “How about your other bag?” It’s because he dropped it, and heard a clink. And so, he went in there, and he pulled out one of those saw blades that you open up…
Ben Mulroney
Yeah.
The Hon. Doug Ford
…and he used it as a saw blade. And the store manager said, “That’s what he stole.” And then, you know, he starts saying “ba-da-da-da-da,” to the guy, and then I said, “Keep emptying out the bag.” He pulls out some cutters, tin snips. And I’m, by this time, I’m in a pretty rage, you know, I’m just in a full-out rage on this guy. And I said, “Buddy, you stole those, too,” and he goes, “I swear to God, I didn’t steal them, I didn’t steal them.” He said, “Look at the rust on them.” I looked at them, and they were rusty. I said, “Okay, those are yours. But the rest?” And then I went on to tell him, if I ever see him in the parking lot, he’s going to get a beating like he’s never got before. But that’s what you have to do, so.
Ben Mulroney
Well, that’s where we are now.
The Hon. Doug Ford
Yeah. Oh yeah.
Ben Mulroney
That’s where we are. Unfortunately, Mr. Premier, we are out of time. But you know, despite what people might hear on my radio show, my hope is that we are living in such an important time, such a high-stakes time for Canada and, indeed, Ontario, that my hope for our government in Ottawa is that they succeed, because if they succeed, everyone succeeds. And I believe the same thing about a Progressive Conservative government here in Ontario. If you succeed, then all of Ontario succeeds. And so, with that in mind, I can, I feel, speak for everybody in this audience, where we wish you the very best in this fall session. And, as a matter of fact, for everybody on both sides of the aisle, a successful fall session. We wish you the very, very best, and thank you very much for your time today.
The Hon. Doug Ford
I’m very, very grateful. Thank you, everyone, and Go Jays Go! We’ve got to come back.
Saurabh Popat
Thank you so very much. We’ve just got a few more minutes to go, and a few thank yous, if everyone could be seated, please. Premier Ford, thank you so very much for your thoughtful remarks, and your relentless leadership. Not only you are the leader of this great province, but obviously, the chief protector of all Ontarians as well, so thank you.
As Ontario navigates—if I could just have everybody’s attention, please, just for a few more minutes. Thank you. As Ontario navigates a changing global and economic landscape, your reflections underscore the importance of strong leadership and open dialogue. These are the values that remain central to the Empire Club’s mission. Ben, thank you for leading today’s conversation, one that is both critical and timely. Thank you. Thank you both.
Before we conclude, it’s my pleasure to recognize Hydro One, both as today’s Lead Sponsor, and as a Season Sponsor of the Empire Club. Energy, as we heard today, is central to Ontario’s competitiveness, and to the future we’ve been talking about today, and Hydro One is at the heart of that work. Representing Hydro One, please join me in welcoming their Chief Operating Officer, Megan Tilford, who oversees operations and customer experience, to deliver our closing appreciation marks.
Note of Appreciation by Megan Tilford, Chief Operating Officer, Hydro One
Well, thank you very much. And Premier Ford, I was going to start my closing remarks by saying on behalf of the 10,000 employees of Hydro One, but I’m going to change it. I’m going to say on behalf of the 10,000 employees of Hydro One, and all the employees who work at Home Depot, thank you, Premier Ford, for your remarks.
And over the Thanksgiving weekend, I told people that I had the honour of seeing the Premier today. And I asked my friends and neighbours if there’s anything that they wanted me to say to him. And listen, let’s get real, I’m from Kirkland Lake, Ontario. And like many long-suffering parents, I spent the weekend in a Hamilton ice rink. And so what they wanted me to say—and they probably didn’t think I was going to say it out loud, but I am—is, first of all, thanks for pouring out the bottle of Crown Royal. And why did they say that? Because for them, it represents a Premier who’s willing to stick up for them, who understands the pressure and concern they have over the current economic situation. And I was able to tell them more about all the ways in which you are sticking up for the people of Ontario by getting important things done. Hydro One has witnessed this firsthand.
Two years ago at the Empire Club talk, I had the honour of thanking the Premier and brought him a shovel to mark the groundbreaking of our Chatham to Lakeshore transmission line. You’ve clearly put that shovel to good use since then, and what a difference two years makes. Ontario is building like never before, and that’s something we are proud to be a part of. You’ve cut red tape. You have accelerated approvals. You have created the conditions to get real things done in this province. And we, we have built efficiently and safely, and that Chatham to Lakeshore transmission line is now delivered early and under budget.
Like Premier Ford said, strong government and strong Ontario businesses are a winning combination, and this room is proof of that. When Ontario companies build with Ontario suppliers and Ontario workers, our towns and cities prosper. The people laying the groundwork for Ontario’s future at Hydro One are the same people who live here. They raise their families here, and they care deeply about this province. Every pole we replace, every line we refurbish, every station we upgrade reflects our pride, our commitment to being part of Ontario’s incredible growth.
So thank you again, Premier, for your insights today. On behalf of all Ontarians, thank you for sticking up for us, and thanks for getting important things done for Ontario. Hydro One is truly proud, truly proud to be your partner in creating a strong and prosperous Ontario for generations to come. So thanks very much. Back to you.
Concluding Remarks by Saurabh Popat
Thank you so much, Megan and Hydro One. And thank you again to Premier Ford, Ben Mulroney, our distinguished guests, sponsors, and of course, to all of you for joining us here today. I’d also like to take a moment to recognize the students and young leaders joining us today. Their presence is made possible through our charitable arm, the Empire Club Foundation, and the generosity of our donors. This support enables us to invite future leaders to take part in today’s dialogue, and to empower them to turn knowledge into leadership that shines in communities, boardrooms, and national conversations shaping Canada’s future. Thank you all for being a part of our community, and helping advance public dialogue on topics that matter.
And if you’re interested in becoming a member of the Empire Club, we do have a membership program, so I’d invite you to please see our staff at the front.
I also hope you’ll join us for two exciting upcoming events from two great members of Premier Ford’s Team Ontario. On November 6th, the Honourable Doug Downey, Attorney General of Ontario, will reflect on modernizing Ontario’s courts and advancing digital transformation. And on November 20th, we’ll welcome Ontario’s Minister of Transportation, the Honourable Prabmeet Sarkaria, for a keynote address. Tickets for both of these events are on sale now.
And, as always, as a club of record, all Empire Club events are available to watch and listen to our website. The recording of today’s event will be available shortly. Thank you all for being a part of this important conversation. We hope you enjoy the networking reception. This meeting is now adjourned. Thank you.
