‘I’m a Street Fighter in Politics’: Canadian Premier Doug Ford Threatens Ban on American Booze if Trump Pursues Trade War

Ontario Premiere Doug Ford shared during an interview with Politico that he is not afraid to ban American booze. (Photo: Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)

Politico reported on Saturday that Ontario’s Premier Doug Ford threatened an all-out booze ban if President Donald Trump pushes for a trade war with Canada. Though Ford threatened a booze ban in December, the politician does not appear to be backing down with his blustery rhetoric since Trump was inaugurated, and he made that very clear during his interview with Politico.

“I’m a street fighter in politics,” Ford expressed in a statement during the interview with Politico’s Head of News Alexander Burns. “If someone throws a punch at me, I’m going to hit them back twice as hard.”

Other Canadian politicians share Ford’s sentiments.

AP News reported on Monday that Prime Minister Candidate Chrystia Freeland, the ex-finance minister gunning for Justin Trudeau’s spot, expressed that should Trump move forward with the potential threat of 25% tariffs on Canadian goods, she was going to offer a “dollar-for-dollar” counterpunch.

“Being smart means retaliating where it hurts,” Freeland said according to AP news. “Our counterpunch must be dollar-for-dollar and it must be precisely and painfully targeted: Florida orange growers, Wisconsin dairy farmers, Michigan dishwasher manufacturers and much more. Now is the moment when Canada must make clear to the Americans the specific costs that will accompany any tariff measures by the Trump Administration.”

Yet it appears Ford’s strategy is particularly aggressive. During the interview with Politico, Ford shared that he would cut power to American homes and businesses in addition to banning American liquor from Ontario.

Interestingly enough, the Canadian Premier appears to be a fan of the American President.

“I go back to what he’s gone through,” Ford said. “the attacks he went through and attacks our family’s gone through, because we’re standing up for the people. And the establishment and all the muckety-mucks, they think differently.”

The right-leaning politician was referring to what happened to his brother, Rob Ford. Rob Ford was the former mayor of Toronto. The other Ford was considered a disruptive politician whose policies, according to Burns, were all about “upending Toronto government with growling populism.”

Reuters reported that Rob Ford died in September 2021 at the age of 46 from cancer. The politician rose to notoriety after the politician admitted to smoking crack cocaine and drug use. The outlet reported there were multiple videos of Ford intoxicated and issuing racial slurs.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford shared with Politico that he feels he has some common ground with the American president.

“He was very close to his brother, lost his brother, he was addicted to alcohol,” Ford shared about Trump. “My brother was addicted to alcohol — and unfortunately, my brother got cancer and it went through him like lightning.”

The outlet reported the Canadian Premier’s political strategy of putting up a fight demonstrates a sharp difference between billionaires and other politicians acquiescing to the American President’s demands.

Yet it appears the head of Canada’s business lobby Golda Hyder claimed an actual trade war with the United States would be devastating for the country.

“In the long run, we would not be able to survive,” Hyder claimed.