Kennedy-Glans: The Doug Ford Doctrine: 'We really have to flex our muscles'
Ford is also effusive about the need to get rid of the tanker ban on the West Coast and revamp the impact assessment act. 'Those days are done. They're gone,' he says. 'We have to start moving forward and create the conditions for the rest of the world to look at investing in not just Ontario but other jurisdictions across Canada, from coast to coast to coast.'
Article content
I moved from Ontario to Alberta in the early 1980s — a time when Alberta premier Peter Lougheed was struggling with prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau's National Energy Program — and can still recall the bitter disappointment of Ontario premier Bill Davis's unwillingness to support Alberta's interests.
Article content
I admit to being impressed by Ford's visit to the recently concluded Calgary Stampede, and not just by his commitment to flip pancakes alongside Smith, whose griddle experience is legendary. Ontario's premier also inked two MOUs with Alberta, to advance freer trade between the provinces and publicly endorse mutually beneficial national-interest projects, including an oil pipeline from Alberta to Ontario (fabricated with Ontario steel).
Article content
Article content
Although Ford's not sure if Carney will be specific about the nation-building projects selected to move forward, in the upcoming discussions around the table in Muskoka, he's optimistic provincial leaders — and their constituents — recognize this unique opportunity to move forward on national infrastructure projects.
Article content
'We're moving forward and we're going to see another $200 billion going into our economy, increase our GDP anywhere upwards to six per cent,' Ford says.
Article content
He expects his fellow premiers will have to hop on this train. 'The residents of each province are going to demand that they get on that train as we're moving forward,' he says, 'because they want to prosper as well.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Global News
an hour ago
- Global News
Ford claims asylum seekers wait 2 years for work permits. Feds say it's actually 45 days
The federal government is pushing back against Ontario Premier Doug Ford's claim it takes two years for an asylum seeker to be given the right to work in Canada, saying the average processing time is actually less than two months. Ford made the claim on Wednesday afternoon at the end of a three-day leaders' summit in Huntsville, Ont., where the country's premiers agreed to look at ways to use their constitutional powers to hand out work permits. 'They're waiting over two years, and they're just sucking off the system — not their fault,' Ford said, describing asylum seekers living in hotels near his home. 'The fault falls under immigration that it takes over two years to get a work permit.' The federal government, however, said the claim it takes two years to get a work permit is simply not true. Story continues below advertisement A spokesperson for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada told Global News that, since 2022, asylum seekers have been able to apply for a work permit as part of their request to stay in Canada. That request, they said, is made through an online portal and includes checks like a medical exam. Once a claim is determined as eligible to be referred to the Immigration Refugee Board, a work permit is issued within two weeks, the spokesperson said. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'The average processing time for work permits to be approved is 45 days,' they said. The experience for asylum seekers is likely somewhere between the 45-day and 730-day estimates. Syed Hussan, the executive director of the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, said both figures seemed off. 'It's taking sometimes up to six months, up to five months for some people,' he told Global News. 'Some people are getting them in 45 days, it's just inconsistent beyond belief. But four to six months in some cases is a pretty long time, but it's certainly not two years.' Ford made the claim as he launched a plan to use provincial power to hand out more work visas, generally an area of federal responsibility. The premier said he planned to rely on Section 95 of the Constitution, which allows provinces to make decisions about immigration on the condition they don't clash with existing federal legislation. Story continues below advertisement According to officials in his office, work is now underway to study how to make the move, with no timeline yet or concrete plan on how to proceed. Ford said he wanted to do everything he can to help asylum seekers find jobs while they wait for their applications to be assessed. 'I have a tremendous amount of asylum seekers that are up in Etobicoke in the hotels. They're healthy, they're willing to work, they're hardworking people,' Ford said. 'They want to get out there and they want to be like every other Canadian. They want to find a job, they want to be able to first start off renting a condo or part of a house and then buying a house.' Hussna, however, said the message represented a change of tone from Ontario's premier. 'This to me seems like just a political talking point,' he said. 'A way to rage bait and rage farm and look like — the same premier who has been on an anti-immigrant rampage, who has been saying we'll take care of own first.' Back in 2018, Ford said the province had to 'take care of our own' before pushing for immigrants to move to northern Ontario. After briefly removing land from the Greenbelt for new housing in 2022, the premier said the move was necessary because of rising immigration. That year, Canada broke its record for new immigration with 430,000 newcomers. Story continues below advertisement 'He's been really in this divine and conquer, pitting migrants against everyone else to cause a distraction, and now suddenly he's the champion of refugees working,' Hussan added. 'It's completely bizarre.'
Global News
4 hours ago
- Global News
Ford acknowledges water bomber pilot shortage, launches request for national fire plan
Premier Doug Ford has acknowledged that his province has a shortage of pilots trained in the difficult task of flying water bombers over forest fires, as blazes continue to rage across northern Ontario. Earlier in the season, the union representing front-line firefighters said planes in the province were grounded because Ontario didn't have enough pilots to fly the water bombers it currently owns. It's a claim the Ministry of Natural Resources confirmed to Global News, although it did not say exactly how many planes are grounded or how often. On Tuesday, at a meeting of the nation's leaders in Muskoka, Ont., Ford said there were pilots in the province, but suggested they don't have the training to fight fires. 'We have lots of pilots, but you have to also understand you can't just have any pilot with these water bombers,' he said. Story continues below advertisement 'And then we have the helicopters, too, that carry an enormous amount of water as well. So I think it's all hands on deck as well.' The Ford government has said it is ordering new water bombers, but the premier complained they take up to four years to build. Ford, as the chair of the Council of the Federation, is leading a push from the country's premiers to have the federal government take on a bigger role in fighting fires. 'What happens every single year, and we know what's going to happen, there's wildfires right across the country,' Ford added on Tuesday. 'We need a national program that we can call on for resources.' Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy That request is being floated for the first time this year during a potentially record-breaking summer for the country, where more than five million hectares of land have already burned. Story continues below advertisement At the close of the second day of a leaders' summit in Huntsville, Ont., this week, Canada's premiers agreed to a joint statement requesting that the federal government provide 'adequate and flexible federal funding' for emergencies. The request was also made for help in creating national standards and co-ordinating during emergencies. The plan is one that New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt said was talked about for the first time this week. 'That's a new one that we started discussing in light of the fires that are being experienced across a lot of provinces,' she said on Tuesday. 'So we started the conversation on what provinces need to be able to respond as quickly as possible and what level of communication is helpful, and what level isn't.' Wildfires have devastated the northern reaches of provinces across Canada this year. Figures last week showed more than 5.5 million hectares had burned since January, more than double the 10-year average of 2.12 million. In Manitoba, roughly 5,000 residents were evacuated from Flin Flon because of wildfires earlier this year. Twelve months ago, in Alberta's Jasper, 25,000 people were forced to flee two massive fires that ripped through the heart of the mountain community. Story continues below advertisement Ontario has evacuated at least 650 people from its northern communities in July alone. Exactly what federal support would look like remains to be seen. British Columbia Premier David Eby said he was a 'cautious supporter' of the idea and would be supportive if the federal government could help to standardize systems to make it easier for different fire services to come together. 'The caution that we have is the closer you get to the ground, the more effective the fire service is, in my experience,' he said. 'There is a potential role for the federal government, but I want to make sure it adds and doesn't create bureaucracy or delay.' View image in full screen Ontario Premier Doug Ford, left, and Quebec Premier Francois Legault listen to questions from the media during the 2025 summer meetings of Canada's Premiers at Deerhurst Resort in Huntsville, Ont., on Wednesday, July 23, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette Back in Ontario, however, opponents of the Ford government say it has failed to invest in the program and stress federal support is no substitute for a well-run local program. Story continues below advertisement 'Every part of the country, every part of the world has different kinds of fires, depending on what kind of wood is there,' NDP MPP Lise Vaugeois said. 'Whether we're talking about bogs or peatlands or boreal forests or old-growth forests in British Columbia, they all burn differently.' — with files from Global News' Ari Rabinovitch
Edmonton Journal
9 hours ago
- Edmonton Journal
Lorne Gunter: Smith lays groundwork for success at premier's council
Article content What did Premier Danielle Smith achieve at the Council of the Federation in cottage country north of Toronto? A lot of significant groundwork for an expansion of the province's economy, perhaps even with the province in control, not Ottawa. Article content Smith didn't get invited to the famous late-night gab session between Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Prime Minister Mark Carney, where the two sat up until all hours 'solving all the world's problems.' Article content Article content Article content While Ford and Carney launched their summer-stock revival of Neil Simon's The Odd Couple at the Ford Family Muskoka Playhouse (with Carney as Felix and Ford as Oscar), Smith added another premier to her effort to get pipelines and ports built and increase trade within Canada. Article content Saskatchewan's Scott Moe signed on to the memorandum of understanding (MOU) that both Smith and Ford signed earlier this month when Ford came west to flip pancakes at the Calgary Stampede. Article content Admittedly, Moe is as pro-oil and pipeline, and Ottawa-skeptic, as Smith. Getting him to sign couldn't have been hard. Indeed, an Alberta government source tells me Moe was willing to sign the same day as Ford. After all, he was in Calgary, too, flapping jacks along side his Alberta and Ontario counterparts at Smith's annual Stampede breakfast. But someone in our premier's office came up the astute idea of having Moe hold off a couple of weeks, so when he did sign it would look as the MOU was gaining momentum. Article content Article content The same source tells me Smith is now working on Manitoba's Wab Kinew for even more momentum and a solid block of support from the B.C.-Alberta border to the Ontario-Quebec line. Article content The thinking is that if B.C. never removes its objections to a West Coast pipeline and Quebec can't be convinced to support a pipeline across that province to East Coast refineries and ports, then maybe the central provinces can agree to a line from the Alberta and Saskatchewan oilfields to either Manitoba's Port of Churchill or Ontario's Moosonee or Fort Severn. Neither Ontario site at present has port facilities nor a rail line. Churchill has both. Article content Frankly, I prefer when the premier of Ontario and the PM are suspicious of one another. It makes me feel Alberta is safer. When Ford and Carney get chummy, I start to wonder whether Alberta should hunker down and wait for a storm.
