Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles announced her party is ready to work with the Doug Ford government to push back on U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s threats to impose a 25 per cent tariff on all Canadian imports. At a news conference in Windsor Monday morning, Stiles said the party will “fight like hell” to protect jobs threated by Trump’s tariff talk as talks of an early provincial election in Ontario continue. “I’ve been very clear about this since the first threats came across that border from Donald Trump, that we will fight like hell, not just for jobs here, but for every single job in the province of Ontario and for every single working person,” Stiles said. “New Democrats are ready to work with the government to push back on these tariffs and fight for workers in the auto industry, in agriculture, in forestry and in any other sector that [are] at risk. That’s my message to Doug Ford, but it’s also my message to working people and to every single Ontarian.” Stiles urged Premier Ford to end early election talks and continue to focus on the tariff threat, explaining there is no need to go to the polls. “With the kind of uncertainty that we are seeing in Ottawa right now, Doug Ford needs to put the good of the province ahead of his own political interests, and he needs to shelve these early election plans,” Stiles said. “This is a moment where we need to stand together with workers to share our best ideas, our best knowledge.” Stiles was joined by Windsor West MPP Lisa Gretzky, Windsor-Tecumseh NDP candidate Gemma Grey Hall, and Windsor West MP Brian Masse. The group met beforehand with Unifor Locals 444, 200, and 195 at the Unifor Hall on Turner Road. Stiles said this is a moment for solidarity instead of partisanship. “This is a moment to be building things up and to ensure greater stability at this very precarious moment,” Stiles said. Brian Masse encouraged Ford to consult with border communities, agencies, and other opposition party members to find resolve, suggesting coordination between federal and provincial parties is needed. “It’s almost like whack-a-mole in terms of assessing what Trump might put a tariff on or not,” Masse explained. “He’s saying 25 per cent across the board and we don’t know if other sectors are going to be left alone so we have to come up with a robust plan.” Masse continued, “It’s hard to really understand how the repercussions of that, but what we can do is control some of our responses in a better organized way.” Unifor Local 444 Secretary-Treasurer Manny Cordosa gave kudos to Doug Ford for standing up for Canada, but urged for a united approach with other government officials. “I would call on the rest of the politicians on all sides of the aisle and all levels of government to do the same, to get together, stand together and fight this incoming administration in the states and all the uncertainty that Trump brings with it,” Cordosa said. “We can’t be weak on our side. Our members are nervous and should be. There’s a lot of uncertainty coming with proposed tariffs, whether it’s auto, agriculture or other industries and now is not the time to be picking ourselves apart, calling an election at this point in time, I think would not serve Ontarians well. I think they need to stay focused.” Later in the day, Stiles took part in an education round table discussion with local teachers, parents, and other education workers where she echoed her concerns of an early election in the province. The next provincial election in Ontario is currently set for June 2026.
