Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he intends to seek a fourth majority mandate as premier of Ontario and leader of the Progressive Conservatives in the next provincial election.
Ford made his remarks during a speech at the Ontario PC
convention at the Toronto Congress Centre on Jan. 31. The three-day weekend convention was held from Jan. 30 to Feb. 1 and featured remarks from Ford and members of the PC caucus, policy discussions, voting on constitutional amendments, and an awards ceremony.
The event was initially going to be closed to the media, with Ford
telling reporters on Jan. 28 that his party was going to keep the event “as a party convention” and that he is “always open to sit down and chat” with the media “anytime.” However, the party later decided to allow media coverage of Ford’s speech.
The federal Conservatives also held a convention this weekend in Calgary, where federal Tory Leader Pierre Poilievre faced a leadership vote. Poilievre
passed his leadership review with 87.4 percent of Conservative Party members voting to keep him as party leader.
Ford did not face a leadership review at his party’s convention. He has won three consecutive majority governments in Ontario, with victories in 2018, 2022, and 2025, the latter when he
called an early election.
During his 15-minute
speech on Jan. 31, Ford touted his party’s success in winning three consecutive majority elections and said he looks forward to winning a fourth mandate in the next election.
“You’re helping us build a stronger, more united PC Party—a party that will continue to work for the people, and a party that I look forward to leading to win a historic, fourth majority mandate with your help in the next election,” Ford said.
He also said the previous Liberal government “left Ontario in shambles” by hiking taxes, driving away jobs and investment, and not building the infrastructure the province needed. He thanked his party’s members and said the PC Party is made up of “the hardest working team of MPPs in Ontario’s history.”
Ford said his government is responding to the challenges posed by U.S. tariffs. “Despite President Trump’s tariffs and threats, we are building a province that is more resilient, self-reliant, and competitive than ever before,” Ford said.
He also touted his “Team Canada” approach, although he recently disagreed with the federal government on a deal it made with China.
Prime Minister Mark Carney struck a deal with Beijing in January to reduce Canada’s tariffs on Chinese electric vehicle (EV) imports from 100 percent to 6.1 percent for the first 49,000 vehicles, in exchange for reduced Chinese tariffs on Canadian canola, from 85 percent to 15 percent.
Ford, whose province is where most car plants are located,
reacted negatively to the news of the deal, saying China will now have a “foothold” in the Canadian market and “will use it to their full advantage at the expense of Canadian workers.” He called on Canadians to
boycott Chinese-made EVs and criticized the federal government for making the deal without informing him ahead of time since it would impact his province’s auto industry.
The Ontario premier
met with Carney and separately with Industry Minister Mélanie Joly on Jan. 26 regarding Canada’s automotive sector, after which his tone appeared to soften. He said the federal government had put together a “great” auto strategy, which he noted Ontario “will be part of” and said his only request is that vehicles are built in Canada.
Ford Government Initiatives
During his Jan. 31 convention speech, Ford also talked about various initiatives his government has undertaken. He said his government has never raised taxes, while many other municipal, provincial, and federal governments have. “We’ve never ever raised a tax … and we never will raise a tax,” he said.
He also said his government is “cleaning up our streets and cracking down on crime so people can feel safe again in their communities.”
“We’re shutting down drug injection sites, clearing encampments out of parks, and fixing the broken bail system to keep violent repeat criminals behind bars where they belong,” Ford said.
The Ford government
closed multiple supervised consumption facilities located within 200 metres of schools and child care centres and converted them into addiction resource hubs last year. Ford has called the sites “the worst thing that could ever happen to a community,” citing safety concerns raised by community members and saying the sites don’t help reduce addiction.
Ford has also
pressed the federal government to enact stricter bail and sentencing provisions for repeat and violent offenders.
The premier also spoke about various other initiatives his government is undertaking, such as building a road to the Ring of Fire in northern Ontario, expanding public transit, and pushing the federal government to remove HST for all newly built homes.
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