{"id":665542,"date":"2026-05-13T00:27:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T00:27:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/665542\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T00:27:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T00:27:20","slug":"ford-backs-toronto-defence-bank-bid-disputes-quebecs-fear-campaign-claim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/665542\/","title":{"rendered":"Ford backs Toronto defence bank bid, disputes Quebec\u2019s \u2018fear campaign\u2019 claim"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says that while Toronto should be the host city for a new defence bank<\/a>, he doesn\u2019t believe in \u201cattacking\u201d competing bids for it.<\/p>\n

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Ford made the comments Tuesday after Quebec politicians last week accused Canada\u2019s largest city of waging a \u201cfear campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those officials said their Toronto counterparts are invoking the threat of a Quebec referendum to undermine Montreal\u2019s bid to host the\u00a0Defence, Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB), which would provide financing for defence projects by NATO members and allies.<\/p>\n

Canada has been chosen to host the bank\u2019s headquarters<\/a>, with Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver competing for the project, which is expected to create more than 3,000 jobs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe love Montreal. I can tell you I love Quebecers as well. This is a process that the whole country is going through,\u201d Ford told reporters at an event in Toronto.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe prime minister will have to make a decision, but I don\u2019t believe in attacking any other bids. I just don\u2019t believe in that. Montreal, Quebecers, they\u2019re fine people.\u201d<\/p>\n

The contest to host the bank has been intensifying as cities make their case. Quebec Premier Christine Fr\u00e9chette said Montreal has what it needs to welcome the bank.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t1:59
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tQuebec argues Montreal is the \u2018logical choice\u2019 to host NATO\u2019s defence bank\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

But a report published in Quebec\u2019s French-language newspaper La Presse suggests promoters in Toronto are, behind the scenes, pointing to the possibility of another referendum to portray Montreal as a less stable choice.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"Get<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tGet breaking National news<\/p>\n

Get breaking Canada news delivered to your inbox as it happens so you won’t miss a trending story.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s part of a fear campaign,\u201d Parti Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois MNA Pascal Paradis said.<\/p>\n

The PQ is leading in the polls with five months to go before the next provincial election and has pledged to hold a referendum in its first mandate if elected.<\/p>\n

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Paradis rejected the idea that such a move would hurt the economy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must put aside this fear campaign, these fear tactics,\u201d he said last week.<\/p>\n

Qu\u00e9bec solidaire, another sovereigntist party, echoed that position.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I\u2019m afraid of is the real instability caused by Quebec being in Canada,\u201d spokesperson Sol Zanetti said.<\/p>\n

Fr\u00e9chette declined to weigh in on whether sovereignty concerns could weaken Montreal\u2019s bid.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not getting into that,\u201d she said, adding she has not contacted Ford over the issue.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBC bidding to be home to multinational defence bank headquarters\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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Ford, flanked by leaders from several sectors, said Toronto is the only city in Canada \u201cthat can truly provide everything the bank needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe bank needs a host city that is one of the largest financial hubs in North America, that is home to all five of Canada\u2019s largest banks, bond-rating agencies and many of the country\u2019s largest pension funds, institutional investors, and the offices of over 40 more international banks,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s 110 nationalities and nearly 200 languages represented in Ontario. International airports and rail, highway and shipping networks connecting to Canada, the rest of North America and to the destinations around the world. Toronto and Ontario offer all these benefits and we\u2019re willing to go above and beyond to support the DSRB.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that the Ontario government will help the bank establish both an interim and long-term headquarters, with a potential temporary home at 200 Front St. W.<\/p>\n

Also, the government would leverage the $4-billion Protect Ontario Account Investment Fund to attract investment capital to Canada and Ontario\u2019s defence industry, and intends to issue a minimum $500-million bond to fund defence projects.<\/p>\n

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Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow echoed Ford\u2019s pitch.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis institution will bring more than 3,500 jobs to Canada. It will elevate our profile on the world stage and reinforce our credibility as a trusted ally in a moment when that credibility genuinely matters,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cToronto is where Canada\u2019s financial leadership lives. It is where the DSRB should live too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ontario Premier Doug Ford says that while Toronto should be the host city for a new defence bank,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":665543,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,242872,295,13404,714,16622,66,123294],"class_list":["post-665542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-defence-bank","tag-environment","tag-ontario-politics","tag-politics","tag-quebec-politics","tag-science","tag-toronto-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=665542"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665542\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/665543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=665542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=665542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=665542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}