Doug Ford retains his majority by playing the Trump card
Mar 4, 2025
On Thursday night, February 27, 2025, Ontario Premiere Doug Ford retained his majority government by playing the Trump card. His campaign was based on saying that he was the person best able to deal with Donald Trump. He did reach out. He travelled to the US for meetings and even got some media coverage there, and when the CBC announced the early election results at about 9pm, Ford had gotten one of the very few third consecutive majority governments in provincial history.
If I was in the car business rather than the boat business, I would probably care more. The Ontario economy enjoys a huge and successful auto industry presence. Donald Trump has very specifically threatened that, saying he wanted the auto industry plants moved back to the USA. Faced with no other strong options, the people of Ontario re-elected Doug Ford. Let’s hope Ford can do something to keep the auto industry in Ontario. But we face problems in the boat business.
Our first problem is the federal government that is in a sad state with Justin Trudeau’s resignation. Our Prime Minister announced his resignation on January 6th and our Parliament was prorogued at that same time. Effectively, Canada has not had a proper head of state to deal with Donald Trump and the threat of tariffs since then. Trudeau does not officially leave office until March 24, 2025.
At that time, the Liberal party will still be in power and the 2025 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election is expected to be held from February 26 to March 9, 2025. Parliament can then be recalled and there are expectations that the opposition will immediately call a non-confidence vote to trigger a full Federal election.
This shifting political ground and the opportunities it may open up, is a chance to aggressively lobby to have the Luxury Tax on boats repealed.
Further, an election is an opportunity to also lobby to prevent boats from being hit with countervailing tariffs. We know boats are on the Canadian counter tariff list. We need to have all members of the boat business support our associations; the NMMA Canada, the Canadian Marine Retailers Association CMRA and the provincial associations.
Last week the heading for this column was “All Hands On Deck” and that’s what we need – numbers. The more people the better because that’s how politicians decide where they will put their efforts in. Big numbers are what motivates the politicians and they need to see it’s a National issue – not a provincial one.
So, again this week, I’m appealing to you to gather all the support you can and go to this link to the CMRA. Take action today. Visit www.BoatingUnited.ca to send a message to your MP and the Minister of Finance. Every email, every voice, and every vote counts in our fight to repeal this damaging tax. The forms are all made out and ready for your use – this will only take you seconds to make your voice heard.
One last thing – next week Boating Industry Canada News Week Digest will select a dozen of the most impressive new products that have been launched at the big winter boat shows. You will want to check out these items for your business!
Andy Adams – Editor
