Doug Ford delivers a rallying cry for the Blue Jays in the Washington Post

It’s been barely a week since Ontario Premier Doug Ford angered U.S. President Donald Trump with a television ad that played up former Republican president Ronald Reagan’s dislike and distrust of tariffs between nations. Trump called the ad “fake” and said all trade talks were “hereby terminated.”

Now Ford has returned to the public sphere with yet another impassioned plea for better trade relations. This time, however, rather than invoking football’s the Gipper, Ford is playing the baseball card.

The medium this time is an op-ed in Friday’s Washington Post. And the message: “Canada and the Toronto Blue Jays are global heavyweights.”

Ford begins with a softball. “Canada and the United States are neighbours, allies and best friends,” he writes. “We have stood shoulder to shoulder on the battlefield, defending shared values of freedom and democracy. Free trade between our two countries has ushered in decades of unprecedented wealth and prosperity, creating millions of jobs on both sides of the border.”

Then the change-up. “U.S. tariffs on Canada’s economy have tested this long-standing partnership.”

Ford notes that Canadian patriotism is “surging,” its citizens choosing Canadian products at the grocery store and cheering on the home team in the arena.

“In February, Canadians united to cheer Team Canada to a hard-fought win over Team USA in the 4 Nations Face-Off hockey tournament,” he writes. “Now, the country is united again to cheer on Canada’s Team — this time the Blue Jays, all the way to a World Series title.”

He reminds readers that the Jays, perennial underdogs, have clawed their way into the World Series, besting the New York Yankees and the Seattle Mariners for the American League title, and now leading last year’s champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers, three games to two in the best-of-seven match.

“Americans are underestimating the Jays,” he writes. Dipping into that baseball mainstay, statistics, he notes that the Jays play for the fourth largest metropolitan area in North America, “and a proud nation of more than 41 million people.”

Ford then trots out Canada’s all-star lineup, boasting of the country’s energy resources, including oil, gas and “Ontario’s growing fleet of nuclear power plants and the first small modular nuclear reactors in the G-7.”

He notes our nation’s vast deposits of critical minerals and other natural resources, listing off “uranium, potash, high-grade nickel, steel, aluminum and some of the best lumber in the world for building homes.”

Ford ends by rounding the bases. “We’re America’s No. 1 customer,” he writes, “buying more America-made cars than any other country on earth. In 2023, Ontario on its own was the largest trading partner for 17 states and second largest for another 11.”

Ford predicts the Jays will stand proud on the world stage, just like Canada, “when they bring it home and win the World Series,” adding: “Let’s go Blue Jays!”

The Jays play Game 6 of the World Series against the Dodgers Friday night at Rogers Centre in Toronto.

• How a one-minute ad threw Canada-U.S. trade talks into turmoil
• Doug Ford says Mark Carney and his chief of staff knew about Ontario anti-tariff ad before it aired

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