Ontario Liberals Call for Economic Defence Plan to Protect Workers, Families and Businesses

QUEEN’S PARK, ON — Ontario Liberal Interim Leader John Fraser is calling on the Ford government to recall the Legislature and immediately put forward an economic defence plan.

Ontario Liberals stand with Prime Minister Carney and his calm, disciplined approach to this very serious economic threat. We stand ready to work with all parties in this Legislature to deal with this unprecedented situation.

“We are in a trade war, and we need to defend ourselves. To do that, we need a plan. For all of Ontario. What I heard from Doug Ford today in Hamilton wasn’t a plan. There were no new measures. Not even a mention of direct income or benefit support for workers who could lose their jobs or their hours,” said Fraser.

“So, when I heard the Premier’s comments earlier today directed to Donald Trump, which I’m not going to repeat, I thought, ‘This isn’t WWE Smackdown.’ It may feel good, but it’s giving Donald Trump exactly what he wants, and it’s not what Ontario families need.

Fraser also called on Ford to immediately recall the Legislature.

We should be back here right now. At the very least, when we were supposed to be back in September – not Halloween,” said Fraser. “We need to approach this the same way we would approach any other crisis: COVID, the Great Recession. We need to come together. All 124 of us. That’s our job. That’s what people expect.

Ontario Liberals are calling on the Ford government to:

• Support workers: Provide direct income and benefit support to workers who lose jobs or hours because of tariffs. Ottawa has a responsibility, but Ontario does too. Doug Ford cannot pass the buck to the federal government. Open the Protect Ontario Financing Account to businesses in all tariff-affected sectors, with fast access to working capital and bridge financing to help businesses stay open and keep people working.
• Support small businesses: Cut the Small Business Tax and provide additional incentives for businesses to hire and retain young workers.
• Support families: Remove the HST from home heating and electricity, track tariff-related price increases and strengthen enforcement against price gouging.
• Support farmers: Provide support to tariff-hit farmers, expand Ontario food-processing capacity and use provincial purchasing power to buy more Ontario-grown and Ontario-processed food.
• Buy Ontario and Canadian: Scrap the government’s taxpayer-funded Protect Ontario advertising campaign and redirect the money toward a Buy Ontario and Buy Canadian awareness campaign that supports Canadian workers, businesses and industries.

“Workers affected by Trump’s tariffs need to know their government has their back,” said Fraser. “The federal government has a responsibility, but so does Queen’s Park. Doug Ford cannot shirk Ontario’s responsibility. We need every level of government doing everything it can to protect people, paycheques and our economy.

“It’s like a David and Goliath thing. But you do remember who won, don’t you?” Fraser concluded.