Ford, Trudeau duet on mask front
Joint plan worth $46M will see face coverings made in Brockville
Pandemic partners Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier Doug Ford are hitting the road together.
Trudeau and Ford, whose governments have worked closely throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, will share the stage Friday in Brockville to announce a new $46-million federal-provincial push to get 3M to manufacture N95 masks there.
The meeting between an embattled Liberal prime minister and the most powerful Conservative politician in Canada comes as federal Tories are set to choose a new leader this weekend.
Ford, who has indicated he doesn’t care who leads the federal party, pointed out Thursday that Canadians want their politicians to work together.
“When we’re going through this pandemic, it’s critical that we’re all pulling in the same direction,” the premier said in Orillia, Ont., where he announced the hiring of 200 new Ontario Provincial Police officers. “Do we agree on everything? No, we won’t agree on everything. But there’s so many more things we can agree on and work together.”
All this week, Ford has been hailing Trudeau’s appointment of Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland as finance minister in the wake of Bill Morneau’s sudden resignation.
“It’s good. When I was messaging Chrystia — last night, night before — I told her, I said ‘Chrystia, you and I are blazing a new trail that this country has never seen before,’ ” the premier said.
“And I think it’s a good trail we blaze because when I’m out on the street, so many people say, ‘That’s great that the municipalities and the province and the federal government are all working together,’ ” he said.
“I consider Chrystia a good friend and she’ll always be a good friend. Forget about this green, orange, red, blue party. You know … I’ve never believed in that. Put … all that political nonsense behind us, we get more things done a lot quicker.”
That magnanimity is a far cry from last fall when the federal Liberals used the then unpopular premier as a whipping boy to hold 79 of Ontario’s 121 seats and win the Oct. 21election over Andrew Scheer’s Tories.
Trudeau attacked Ford on the hustings almost daily, while Scheer treated the premier like a pariah, not mentioning his name and refusing to campaign with him even at an event steps from Ford’s Etobicoke home. Now, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought the two governments so close together that, to the frustration of federal Conservatives, Ford has pointedly refused to weigh in on the WE Charity scandal that’s roiling the federal Liberals.
Nor has he expressed any interest in opining on the leadership contest between Peter MacKay, Erin O’Toole, Leslyn Lewis and Derek Sloan.
On Friday, Ford and Trudeau will announce Queen’s Park and Ottawa will each spend $23 million to allow the 3M’s Brockville facility to expand to produce “millions” of N95 masks, which will be delivered in early 2021, two sources told the Star. 3M will also invest $23 million. “We know we need more (personal protective equipment) and we have this opportunity for it to be produced right here in Canada and secure a stable supply for our health-care system,” said an insider with direct knowledge of the investment. “We want to make sure we can source N95s in Canada.”
Trudeau’s government has been scrambling to ensure more domestic production of critical supplies.
In May, the federal government struck a deal with Quebec-based Medicom to produce 20 million N95 masks and 24 million surgical masks each year for the next 10 years.
A month before, Canada was rattled by an order from U.S. President Donald Trump that had halted a shipment of N95 masks at the border.
Trump invoked the Defence Production Act to restrict exports of pandemic-fighting supplies, requiring U.S. manufacturers to cease exports of essential medical equipment.
U.S.-based 3M pushed back, saying there would be “significant humanitarian implications” that could cause other countries to retaliate, potentially reducing the overall supply of respirators to the U.S.
In the end, Canada and Mexico won exemptions from the order.
Ford, who has been highly critical of Trump over such protectionism, has repeatedly said he wants Ontario to no longer be dependent upon critical medical supplies from the U.S.
Also Thursday, it emerged that the Progressive Conservatives are using his performance during the COVID-19 pandemic to fundraise.
The premier is the subject of a PC email appeal for $5 donations entitled “Strong and Confident Leadership.”
“In difficult times, we need strong and confident leadership. COVID-19 has been a test for your PC Caucus and governments around the world,” writes Tony Miele, chair of the PC Ontario Fund.
The missive does not mention that the pandemic has killed more than 2,800 Ontarians, plunged the province into an economic recession with almost 1.2 million jobs lost, and saddled the Tories with a record $38.5-billion budget deficit.