Eric Ham: Doug Ford’s ‘bad cop’ routine reaches its limits in Canada’s trade talks with U.S.

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Eric Ham is based in Washington, D.C. and is a political analyst for CTV News. He’s a bestselling author and former congressional staffer in the U.S. Congress and writes for CTVNews.ca.

“I have a job to protect the largest economy in Canada. The engine of Canada. 16.5 million people. And that’s exactly what I’m doing. I’m protecting the steel jobs, the auto jobs, the life science jobs, the manufacturing jobs. That’s my duty as the premier of Ontario.”

Doug Ford made these comments during a public appearance after greenlighting an ad featuring U.S. President Ronald Reagan speaking in opposition to tariffs. In addition to garnering more than a billion views, according to the premier, the image and likeness of Republican icon Ronald Reagan has drawn the ire of MAGA icon, Donald Trump.

Pushing back, the White House has abruptly withdrawn from trade talks with Canada and increased current tariffs by an additional 10 percent. Undoubtedly, Ford’s bad cop to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s good cop underscores the limits to such an approach amid ongoing fraught and tense trade talks between Ottawa and Washington.

Getting under the president’s notoriously thin skin has only exacerbated tensions, sending relations to perhaps their lowest point in years. Ford’s full frontal assault strikes at the heart of Trump’s narrative extolling the many virtues of tariffs and the benefits for the American people. No less, using the Godfather of modern Republicanism’s own words as a sword to strike down the MAGA president’s core argument is seen as both offensive and disrespectful.

The spectacular, albeit, careless offensive has sent Trump into a political tailspin. Yet, in an effort to punch back against his attack on Canada, Ford’s rogue behavior wipes out any credibility the prime minister may have had with the president. Not to mention, any progress on trade talks that would have been a boon to the entire country, not just Ontario. Carney, unwilling to pile on to the damage caused by the ad, says talks with the U.S. had been progressing on affected sectors like steel and aluminum.

“There were a series of very detailed, very specific, very comprehensive discussions…up until the point of those ads running,” Carney said. The Canadian leader made the comments to reporters on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Malaysia. Now the nation stands in limbo as punishing tariffs continue to hurt profits and drive instability for many Canadian businesses.

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Surprisingly, Ford seems to believe the ad achieved its intended goal, which is “to make sure that we get a fair deal, not a one-sided Donald Trump deal, but a fair deal for the people of Ontario and Canada,” he said. Spoken like someone that has completely lost the plot considering negotiations have stalled. Meanwhile, the president is blaming Carney; and millions of Ontarians are left in the lurch.

“If it wasn’t the ad, he’d look out the door or the the window, (and) say, ‘Oh, the leaves have turned colour, let’s stop,’” Ford said. “Believe me, President Trump is not putting a deal together to benefit Canada. It’s our job. It’s the prime minister’s job to get a deal that benefits all of Canada. It’s not about the ad, it’s about finding every excuse in the world not to get a deal,” he also said.

Implications for Carney

Truer words have never been spoken. However, in trying to beat the president at his own game, the premier has now exposed the very people he claims to have been fighting for, to greater risk and harm. Tariffs have had a deleterious impact on both sides of the border. Moreover, the bad cop routine only goes so far; especially when your opponent is an equally worse cop and has a much bigger arsenal.

Now, with an additional 10 per cent levy on the horizon, not only are the 16.5 million people Ford represent vulnerable, but so are those throughout the rest of the nation.

Additionally, the pressure is now exponentially greater for the prime minister as well. Plans to meet with Chinese president Xi Jinping this week takes on greater significance as the two nations seek to mend relations following a diplomatic imbroglio that saw citizens from both respective nation’s jailed in the process.

Carney now has to weigh the pros and cons of trade negotiations with China now that its biggest economic and trading partner has once again walked away from the negotiating table. Beijing is acutely aware of this and will seek to exploit any weaknesses; real or perceived.

Ford seizing on the revenues generated from the ad and the views, which he says surpassed 11 billion, are perhaps the most troubling in the ongoing tit-for-tat. Money that will not ultimately keep entire industries and consumers afloat and views that while jaw-dropping does little to nothing in addressing a tyrant’s desire to intentionally weaken a nation.

In fact, Ford’s victory lap shows his interests and desires mirror those of Trump himself; clicks and eyeballs. Claiming to fight for those he represents all the while celebrating views and relatively paltry revenue generation begs the question: on whose behalf are you fighting?

It has been said, if you fight with a fool long enough, eventually, those watching cannot tell which one is the fool. Ford’s latest fight with the volatile American president blurs the line as it once again leaves businesses and consumers on both sides of the border both bloodied and battered, all while lost on which one is right and which one is wrong.

More from Eric Ham:

• Strongman next door: How Trump’s America puts pressure on Canada
• The truth behind the smiles
• Border issues a potential derailment to CUSMA extension