Ontario Premier Doug Ford speaks in Windsor, Ont. about need to lower taxes, including reducing the HST applied to new homes. <\/p>\n
Ontario Premier Doug Ford will travel to Ottawa for a one-on-one meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney next week, where he says he will make the case for tax cuts as a way to shore up an ailing economy facing headwinds from U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s tariffs. <\/p>\n
Ford announced the planned meeting during an unrelated news conference in Windsor on Tuesday, calling it a \u201cheart-to-heart.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOn Monday, I am going up to have a one-on-one meeting with the prime minister. I have told him how I feel. We have to create the environment (for economic growth),\u201d he said. \u201cThere are just a few things we can do that can really change things. Number one, we are taxed to death; it is simple as that\u2026. It\u2019s economics 101. Put money in the peoples\u2019 pockets and they are going to go out and spend it. It is as simple as going out to dinner, buying a pair of sneakers, buying a pair of jeans; it stimulates the economy.\u201d <\/p>\n
Trump increased the tariff rate on Canadian goods that are not covered by an existing free trade pact to 35 per cent earlier this month, prompting Ford to call for \u201cdollar-for-dollar\u201d retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods. <\/a><\/p>\n Carney, however, has not taken that step so far. <\/p>\n During Tuesday\u2019s press conference, Ford alluded to Trump, telling reporters that he was speaking passionately \u201cbecause that guy drives me crazy down south.\u201d<\/p>\n But Ontario\u2019s premier said that his focus in Ottawa will be on pressing Carney for changes that could better position the country to weather the ongoing trade war. <\/p>\n