TORONTO (AP) — The leader of Canada’s most populous province on Wednesday said the U.S. ambassador to Canada should apologize to Ontario’s representative in Washington after the ambassador reportedly shouted profanely at him about the province’s anti-tariff ad.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Ambassador Pete Hoekstra owes David Paterson an apology for an “absolutely unacceptable” tirade that Ford said is “unbecoming for an ambassador.”
An official familiar with the matter confirmed that Hoekstra shouted at Paterson during a reception hosted by the Canadian American Business Council in Ottawa on Monday night. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
“Pete, you’ve got to call Dave up and apologize. It’s simple,” Ford told journalists, adding: “I get it. You’re ticked off. But call the guy up, because you’re a good guy.”
A spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy declined comment.
Ontario’s television ad criticizes President Donald Trump’s tariffs by citing a speech by former U.S. President Ronald Reagan. The ad infuriated Trump, who said he plans to raise tariffs on imports of Canadian goods by an extra 10%.
Trump said the ad misrepresented the position of Reagan, a two-term president and a beloved figure in the Republican Party. But Reagan was wary of tariffs and used much of the 1987 address featured in Ontario’s ad to spell out the case against tariffs.
“The intention wasn’t to go poke the president in the eye,” Ford said. “My intention was to get a conversation going.”
Ford said Hoekstra should understand why Canadians are upset: “You have someone attacking your province, attacking your country, constantly saying its the 51st state, trying to take our auto jobs down to the U.S., taking our manufacturing, our life science jobs, trying to take our steel jobs. What do they expect me to do?”
Ford pulled the ad Monday after it was shown during the first two games of the baseball World Series over the weekend. Trump said he won’t talk to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney for a while.
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