Doug Ford and Ron DeSantis are fighting
The Florida governor must think Ford just fell off the turnip truck
When Premier Doug Ford recently announced that the provincial government would be breaking until March 23—folks, that is more than three months away—many wondered if he planned to spend the winter in Florida, where he’s previously vacationed.
It turns out he won’t be heading south this winter, having taken a principled stance in the wake of tariff turmoil between Canada and the US.
Related: “Good people are getting brainwashed”: These Florida snowbirds are fleeing over Trump’s tariffs
Speaking to reporters this week, Ford addressed Ontarians’ growing reluctance to vacation in the US.
“It’s going to be the first time I’m not going to Florida,” he said, emphasizing that it was a personal choice, and that he wasn’t encouraging a mass boycott. “I just can’t do it.”
“They’re hurtin’ down there right now,” he added, referring to the economic impact of Ontario snowbirds choosing to vacation elsewhere.
Ford took it up a notch before signing off, going so far as to call US President Donald Trump a tyrant.
“I’ll never apologize to that guy ever,” Ford said, in reference to commissioning an anti-tariff ad that played on American television channels earlier this year.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis issued a sassy tweet in response, insisting that Florida tourism is thriving, actually, and sneaking in a jab about the Florida Panthers beating the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Stanley Cup finals. He posted an unattributed screenshot of an article claiming that Florida had seen record-breaking numbers of tourists visit the state.
Will we have to wait three months for Ford to clap back?
Carly Lewis is a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Wired, Interview Magazine, Pitchfork, Elle, and Maclean’s, where she is a contributing editor. Her work has been recognized by the National Magazine Awards and the Digital Publishing Awards. She reports on city life, culture—including what people do online—politics, art and crime. She received the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award for “The Murder of Ashley Wadsworth,” an investigative feature about a Canadian teenager who was killed by a man she met on social media, published by Maclean’s.
