TORONTO — Ontario Premier Doug Ford is set to unveil a new strategy for trade with U.S. states next week, which eyes special access for the province to state-level infrastructure procurement that isn’t covered by federal Buy America provisions.

The strategy — which still technically has to go through cabinet, in order to give Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli the mandate to start physically drafting agreements with the various state partners — was revealed by Ford in a speech on Thursday morning at the 2020 Canada 360° Economic Summit in Toronto, and is expected to be announced officially at the National Governors Association winter meeting next Friday in Washington, D.C. Both Ford and Fedeli are slated to travel down to D.C. from Friday to Sunday next week.

The provincial PCs are hoping that they can draft agreements with around six or seven states that have so far been identified as of interest, which would ideally allow Ontario companies the same access to bidding on state-funded procurement as U.S. border states are currently allowed, according to the premier’s office — who noted that the infrastructure projects they’re envisioning gaining access to would include such projects as roads and bridges.

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The states the PCs have identified so far are jurisdictions that don’t necessarily fall under specific World Trade Organization regulations, Ford’s office added, though they declined to identify any one specifically aside from Ohio — the sole jurisdiction where engagement is felt by the PCs to have really started on such an arrangement.

Ford did not discuss the details of the plan in his Thursday speech, but hinted that the strategy could be “a way of possibly getting around” Buy America provisions. “It’s an approach that will enable us to address the challenges we face with a damaging and I repeat that, damaging, Buy America policies. You know, when I’m down there, I’m preaching that constantly. It’s terrible about Buy America,” Ford said in his morning remarks at the summit.

He noted that Ontario is the top trading partner for 19 states, and the second most prolific partner with an additional nine states. “And if Ontario was a standalone country — matter of fact, Rod, I shouldn’t say that actually after last election — but if we were a standalone country, we would be America’s third largest trading partner,” Ford added, directing the remark about the election towards his finance minister, Rod Phillips, who was in the crowd.

Ford also used the speech to implore opposition parties at the federal level to support the ratification of the new USMCA trade deal in parliament. “I’m calling on all the federal parties — let’s not get into this political game when there’s jobs at risk here — to (support ratification) to protect Ontario and Canadian jobs and businesses,” Ford said, echoing a call made by all of Canada’s premiers collectively on Thursday last week. “This is about keeping our country together, keeping it stronger, and when we’re united, no one can compete against us,” Ford added.

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The provincial PCs have squared a focus on U.S. leaders, both political and economic, since their election in 2018. Ford’s predecessor, Kathleen Wynne, had turned an eye to U.S. governors towards the end of her term in office, as Canada’s trade dispute with the U.S. wore on, meeting or speaking with an estimated 38 state governors — as well as senators, congress people and senior administration members, her party says. Since taking the helm of the province, Ford too has racked up a considerable tally. As of mid-December, the premier’s office said Ford had met with the governors of Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Tennessee and Maryland, as well as U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer, former ambassadors Kelly Knight Craft and David MacNaughton, acting ambassador Kirsten Hillman and several dozen business leaders, sometimes alongside other Canadian premiers.

“Make no mistake about it, I’m a businessperson first, an elected official second. I believe in building relationships and we’ve built some incredible relationships with U.S. governors. I don’t look at their political stripe. I don’t care if they’re Republican or Democrat,” Ford told the audience at his speech on Thursday morning.

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Beyond the trip to Washington next week, a National Governors Association Infrastructure Study Tour is set to arrive in Toronto this April. Another factor in the province’s U.S. strategy during their first full year in office was the deployment of agents-general, which existed in Ontario in the ‘80s and ‘90s. Four posts were announced in June, with three based in the U.S. — New York City, Chicago and Dallas. The final role was in London. However, the news was quickly mired in controversy, as it was reported that the lucrative London and New York posts had gone to individuals with personal ties to former Ford chief-of-staff Dean French. Those jobs were subsequently revoked.

The appointments to Chicago and Dallas, however, went forward. The opposition NDP raised questions about the work of the two agents-general, Earl Provost and Jag Badwal, in the provincial legislature in early December — with ethics and accountability critic Taras Natyshak claiming the two had still yet to set up their offices. Fedeli replied that the two agents-general were “working through a very thorough and mandatory security process,” attributing that requirement to the fact their offices were within the federal government via the consul general’s office.

The postings to New York and London remain unfilled, and there is no clear timeline from the PCs for new hires. “We are taking our time in ensuring that the candidates selected for our offices in New York and London are both credible and competent in their ability to serve the province and work on behalf of the people of Ontario in these key international markets,” Robert Gibson, a spokesperson for Fedeli, wrote in a statement on Thursday morning.

The financial implications of the Buy America rules, which were made more stringent last year, are yet unclear. Several hours after Ford’s remarks about the “damaging” nature of Buy America on Thursday, Finance Minister Rod Phillips told reporters that the province’s concerns were, at present, chiefly around “stability and certainty.”

“As people make decisions about where they want to invest, as people make decisions about where they want to procure services from, these sorts of concerns run the risk of people making different business decisions because they don’t want to lose the connection to the supply chain,” Phillips said at Queen’s Park, adding shortly afterwards that it was “difficult to know the precise impact” of any decree of uncertainty in the business climate.

Ontario Green Party leader Mike Schreiner took aim at the PCs Thursday in advance of the coming Washington trip, claiming that if Ford was “serious” about attracting investment and trade from the U.S., he should focus more on the clean energy economy — criticizing, among actions, the PCs cancellation of more than 750 renewable energy contracts. “I urge the premier to embrace the new economy when he visits the US,” Schreiner wrote in a statement.