Premier Doug Ford says he’s “happy as punch” U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her Democratic running mate.
“We share a lot in common,” Ford told reporters Wednesday in a campaign-style stop in Mississauga where he announced $35 million to expand the G.E. Booth water resource recovery facility.
As the Star reported Tuesday, the premier hosted Walz at Queen’s Park two months ago and the pair developed a warm rapport.
“I was happy as punch to see the governor nominated as … (Harris’s) running mate. We tossed the football around a little bit in in my office — we gave him a CFL football,” the premier said, adding their private meeting focused on the importance of Canada-U.S. trade.
“He understands that. We’re stronger together,” said Ford, acknowledging the worrying protectionist rhetoric in the run-up to the Nov. 5 U.S. presidential election.
The premier, who has been on a “Buy North American” push with other provincial leaders and U.S. governors, emphasized the importance of Ontario as a trading partner and the need to keep goods and services flowing.
“I explained to him that we’re the third largest (U.S.) trading partner in the world — Ontario is. We do approximately $500 billion in (annual) two-way trade,” he said.
“We’re the number one trading partner to 17 states, number two to 13 other states — and we’re the number one customer to those states. We’re an economic powerhouse … in North America,” he said.
“We’re going to work well together if he gets elected.”
Ford has expressed concern about the protectionist talk on the hustings stateside — especially from Republican nominee Donald Trump, the ex-president, and his running mate J.D. Vance.
Because of the looming mandatory review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in 2026, Canadian politicians are closely watching the American election.
Still, Ford hastened to emphasize he “will work with anyone, I don’t care if it’s Republican or Democrat.”
Ontario’s governing Progressive Conservatives were encouraged by Harris’s choice Tuesday of the two-term Minnesota governor, who is well-regarded at Queen’s Park.
Walz beat out better-known potential running mates, including Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly and President Joe Biden’s transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg.
Like his Tory, Liberal and NDP predecessors as premier, Ford has made building relationships with Democratic and Republican U.S. governors a priority since winning power in 2018.
But the June 10 meeting with Walz in his office at the legislature went particularly well.
“There was such an excellent rapport and really, really positive statements from the governor on bilateral (Ontario-Minnesota) and Canada-U.S. trade,” confided one senior provincial official, who attended the closed-door session.
“They’re both very salt-of-the-Earth and ‘of the people’ so it was a very positive meeting.”
As an avid NFL fan, Ford gave Walz, a former high school football coach who onced guided his team to a Minnesota state championship, an official Wilson CFL ball.
The two burly men, born seven-and-a-half months apart in 1964, threw the football together like schoolchildren in the premier’s massive second-floor office while aides watched on.
