Mark Carney and Doug Ford patched things up in a Pizza Nova
It was their first time together since Ford criticized Carney’s trade deal with China
Premier Doug Ford was not happy to learn—only a few hours before the rest of us, without much of a friendly heads-up—that Prime Minister Mark Carney had struck a trade deal with China. The agreement will see Beijing reduce tariffs on certain Canadian canola, seafood and vegetable products. In exchange, Canada will annually allow up to 49,000 Chinese EVs into the market at a 6.1 per cent tariff—a significant decrease from the previous 100 per cent tariff.
Related: Doug Ford says only “crazy lefties” don’t like his Ontario Place ideas
Ford called it “a mess” and said the agreement would negatively impact the Ontario auto sector. He also seemed annoyed that Carney didn’t loop him in. “The prime minister knows my number,” Ford said last week. “I thought we had a good enough relationship that he would give me a quick text or a little bit of communication. That never happened.”
But it seems like a reconciliatory meme was sent at some point, because Carney and Ford linked up in an Etobicoke Pizza Nova today to assure Canadians that they don’t hate each other.
“At the end of the day, make no mistake about it. We are one country,” Ford told reporters as both leaders held takeout boxes of pizza. Ford ordered a normal, non-controversial vegetarian slice, and Carney chose chaos by ordering ham and pineapple. Wasn’t this luncheon meant to heal the nation and not divide us further?
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.
