‘He’s very humble’: Ford says Carney stayed at his Muskoka cottage on Monday night

Ont. Premier Doug Ford jokingly said he and PM Mark Carney stayed up talking in front of the fireplace when the PM stayed at his Muskoka cottage Monday night.

Premier Doug Ford said Prime Minister Mark Carney spent the night at the Ford family cottage on Monday night on Day 1 of the first ministers’ meeting in Huntsville, Ont.

“Full disclosure. Prime Minister (Carney) stayed at my place,” Ford said Tuesday at the conclusion of a news conference in cottage country.

“We had dinner. We were up till 12:30 at night, chatting in front of the fireplace, solving all of the world’s problems… I have a little shack down the street there,” the premier joked.

Premiers from across the country are meeting at Deerhurst Resort this week for a face-to-face gathering and Carney joined the premiers on Tuesday.

The meeting comes amid new threats from U.S. President Donald Trump who claims he will impose a higher 35 per cent tariff on many Canadian goods as of Aug. 1.

Ford said he has “every confidence” that the prime minister will secure a good deal for Canada as negotiations with the U.S. continue.

“The prime minister is the most humble person you’d ever want to meet,” Ford said of Carney.

“The prime minister was a Goldman Sachs guy, worked on Bay Street, he was the chair of Brookfield… chair of Bloomberg, everyone knows Bloomberg, Bank of Canada governor, Bank of England governor, he has never said that in his entire time I’ve known him. He doesn’t do that. He’s very humble. He listens. He is a smart businessperson.”

The premier went on to say that Carney is in “cleanup” mode at the moment.

“He has his hands full because of the last 10 years of what has happened in our country. He’s playing cleanup right now and we are going to be there to support him. But he is a very good man and he’s off to a good start,” Ford continued.

“And he’s an honest man too. He just wants the best for Canada. He doesn’t need to be doing this, I can assure you that. But he is giving it everything he possibly can. I think that is the consensus around the table… he is a very smart, shrewd businessman.”

The premiers are set to gather for the final day of the meeting on Wednesday and are expected to hold a news conference later this afternoon.