By Canadian Press

Ontario NDP, Liberals focus on health care as tariffs threaten to draw attention away

Feb 10, 2025 | 9:28 PM

TORONTO — Ontario’s NDP and Liberal leaders tried to keep voters focused on health care Monday, even as actions by the U.S. president threatened to once again draw attention elsewhere in the provincial election campaign.

Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford has tried to make dealing with President Donald Trump the ballot question in the snap Feb. 27 election he called, and kept his sights set on those external forces Monday.

Before Trump signed an executive order to impose 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports into the United States starting March 4, Ford said at a campaign stop in Oakville, Ont., that he spoke in the morning to the heads of Stelco and Dofasco.

“We’re going to face this for four years: shifting goalposts constantly and constant chaos, all designed to hurt our economy and undermine our workers,” Ford said.

He announced that if re-elected, he would ban Chinese equity from Ontario government-funded energy, critical mineral and infrastructure assets. The Progressive Conservatives said there has been no Chinese equity in government-funded energy projects during their seven years in government.

The announcement came one day ahead of a mid-campaign trip Ford is set to make to Washington, D.C., with the other premiers to push back against the broad tariffs Trump has threatened against all Canadian goods.

The other party leaders have expressed concerns about the potential tariffs — NDP Leader Marit Stiles added a last-minute stop to her Monday itinerary to talk to steelworkers in Hamilton — but want to keep talking to voters about health care, which they see as a weak spot for Ford.

“Let’s be really clear here — the Liberals before this did start the fire in our health-care system, but Doug Ford poured gasoline all over it,” Stiles said at a Toronto campaign stop.

“Hospitals across Ontario are facing extreme pressure, with many emergency rooms having to close their doors. Patients are being treated in hallways because of a severe shortage of nurses.”

Government figures previously obtained by The Canadian Press through a freedom-of-information request show that Ontario will need 33,200 more nurses and 50,853 more personal support workers by 2032.

Stiles announced that she would hire at least 15,000 nurses over three years at a cost of $1.5 billion, establish safe nurse-to-patient ratios so patients get more care and nurses don’t burn out, and end reliance on for-profit temporary health-care staffing agencies.

Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie once again highlighted her plan to ensure everyone in Ontario has a family doctor in four years. Ford’s $189-million election call is meant to distract Ontarians from the family doctor shortage, Crombie said.

“He hasn’t protected our jobs,” she said. “The only job Doug Ford wants to protect is his own. Meanwhile, people are struggling and don’t have access to a family doctor. We want a premier that can do both: protect our economy and invest in health care and provide Ontarians with the basics.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 10, 2025.

Allison Jones, The Canadian Press