The Lieutenant Governor of Ontario has accepted Premier Doug Ford‘s ask to dissolve the legislature for an early election that will officially begin on Wednesday.
The visit by the premier to the King’s representative to ask for dissolution is one of the final formalities before writs are issued and the campaign begins. The premier’s office said legislature’s dissolution will take effect at 4 p.m. Tuesday.
The election campaign comes 16 months ahead of schedule and after close to a year of speculation that Ford would move early to capitalize on strong polling.
Ahead of his visit to the lieutenant-governor, Ford confirmed he has already discussed an “economic action plan” with his cabinet — the reason he has claimed he needs to call an election.
The Progressive Conservative Party leader has justified his election call by saying he needs a “strong mandate” to spend tens of billions of dollars stimulating the provincial economy if U.S. President Donald Trump levies tariffs on Canadian goods.
Ford has repeatedly said he doesn’t believe he can spend that money without a new mandate. The premier has the most seats in the legislature and the leaders of all opposition parties have said they would support economic stimulus plans.
“Politicians don’t give other politicians a mandate,” Ford said. “The people who give a mandate are the people of Ontario.”
Despite saying the election is necessary to support bold economic moves, Ford admitted on Tuesday his cabinet has already discussed a spending plan before the election was officially called.
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“I’m not denying that, we do have a strong economic action which will be rolling out over a period of the next 28 days,” Ford said in response to a question from Global News. “It’s a very strong plan; it’s a very large plan but we will be rolling it out and we have to be flexible.”
The premier’s office said the plan had not been approved by cabinet despite Ford’s suggestion it would roll out over the course of the next month.
Ford’s confirmation that his cabinet has already discussed an economic stimulus plan comes despite his repeated claims he needs voters to give him an even larger electoral victory than 2022 to justify new spending.
“We’re asking the people of Ontario, we’re asking for your vote, we’re asking for a mandate — we need the largest mandate in Ontario’s history to move this province forward,” Ford said Friday.
Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said the premier was “abandoning his job” to call an election at a time when people need “a united government” to work “across party lines” to push back against tariffs.
Ford has not addressed questions asking if he believes he needs a new mandate because he has lost the confidence of voters or what he will do if he is given a smaller mandate in the upcoming snap election.
Opposition leaders have said calling an election more than a year early is a waste of time and money and the justification of needing a mandate to deal with Trump is just an excuse to capitalize on good polling.
“At Ontario’s most critical moment, our Premier is choosing to put 500,000 jobs at risk,” Ontario Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie said in a statement.
“He only cares about his job, not yours. Trump’s tariff threats are a serious issue, not a political game with you as the pawn — and certainly not an excuse for a $175 million election. The people of Ontario deserve better.”
Ford said he plans to continue acting in his capacity as premier, including visiting Washington, D.C., in February with a group of other premiers, while also campaigning as leader of the Progressive Conservatives.
Almost immediately after Ford visits Dumont, he is set to participate in a virtual Council of the Federation call with the other premiers.
Meanwhile, other parties are going into full election mode with the campaign set to officially kick off on Wednesday morning.
Already this week, the Ontario NDP has unveiled a central campaign pledge, promising to remove tolls from Highway 407 if elected and work to buy the expressway back. The Liberals are pushing to campaign on health care as a key issue and also spent Tuesday highlighting the inflated cost of the government’s plan to move alcohol into corner stores.
The Progressive Conservatives won 83 seats in 2022 and still had 79 seats at dissolution after some resignations. The Ontario NDP, as the official Opposition, had 28 and the Ontario Liberals had nine. The Greens had two and there were six independents.
The election will be held on Feb. 27.
— with files from The Canadian Press
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