Ontario will cut off U.S. electricity exports 'with a smile on my face,' Ford says

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OTTAWA — As Canada prepares for U.S. President Donald Trump to unleash his trade war against Canada on Tuesday, Ontario’s ready to pull the plug.

Speaking Monday at a mining convention in downtown Toronto, Ontario Premier Doug Ford doubled down on threats to cut electricity exports to U.S. border states if the tariffs go through.

“If they want to try to annihilate Ontario, I will do everything — including cut off their energy with a smile on my face,” Ford told reporters.

“They rely on our energy, they need to feel the pain. They want to come at us hard, we’re going to come back twice as hard.”

The United States is a major customer for Canadian electricity, with all American power grids — with the exception of Texas — interconnected with Canadian provinces.

New York, Michigan and Minnesota are Ontario’s three biggest customers of domestically-produced power.

In 2023, the U.S. imported around 33 TWh (terawatt hours) from Canadian generating stations.

According to the Canada Energy Regulator, revenue from Canadian electricity sales to the U.S. topped $5.8 billion, an all-time high, with Quebec and Ontario leading other provinces.

Ford backed up his assertions to match the U.S. tariff for tariff, and dollar for dollar.

“That’s exactly what we’re going to do,” Ford said.

“The provinces have a big say in it, but it’s the federal government that’s leading the charge, and we’re going to stand shoulder-to-shoulder no matter who’s in the federal government.”

Regardless, Ford is confident retaliation will make the difference.

“I (didn’t) start this tariff war, but we’re going to win this tariff war,” he said.

bpassifiume@postmedia.com
X: @bryanpassifiume

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