OTTAWA | Mark Carney and Doug Ford have different memories of the Ontario anti-tariff ad featuring former President Ronald Reagan that led to the abrupt end of negotiations with Donald Trump’s United States.
• Also read: Trade war: Carney asked Ford to withdraw its ads more than once
Gathered for a press conference in Ottawa on Thursday, the two prime ministers returned to this colorful episode from the month of October.
“It was the case that we were close to an agreement with the Americans regarding steel and aluminum,” Mark Carney soberly responded to a question from a journalist on Thursday.
Remember that when these advertisements were broadcast during the Baseball World Series, Donald Trump furiously put an end to the official negotiations which were to give rise to a sectoral agreement on goods which are today the subject of customs duties.
In an end-of-year interview on Radio-Canada this week, Mr. Carney was much sharper.
Host Patrice Roy asked, “Do you keep saying it’s Doug Ford’s commercial [qui a interrompu les négociations]?»
“Oh yes, it’s absolutely clear,” replied Mark Carney, even going so far as to say that there was a document ready to sign, that it was “almost a deal”. “You have to have the signature, but it was almost there. So, it’s done, the president changed his attitude at that time.”
At the time, he even called Doug Ford directly more than once to ask him to remove his ads. The latter complied.
A diplomat, the Prime Minister was not as incisive as he prepared to sign an important agreement with his Ontario counterpart.
Sidelined on Thursday, Doug Ford did not flinch and does not seem to suffer from remorse concerning his role in the end of the negotiations which could have led to better conditions for workers in his province.
“It’s the most extraordinary advertisement ever made,” he said. “Our goal was to get the attention of the American people […] and it worked.”
The ad was viewed no less than 12.3 billion times, he says, largely thanks to the fury of Donald Trump, who gave it much greater reach than expected.
According to Mark Carney, the sectoral agreement that was on the table will be integrated into the more global negotiations of the Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement, which are due to begin next year.
