Ontario Premier Doug Ford greets Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the Ontario Legislature, in Toronto on Thursday, July 5, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

TORONTO— It’s on. Justin Trudeau’s Wednesday cabinet shuffle shows Ottawa is ready and willing to go to war with Doug Ford and his Tories at Queen’s Park.

The cherry on top was the appointment of an old foe of Premier Ford to a file that will certainly require work with Ontario. Bill Blair — who is now Trudeau’s Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction — has a long and complicated relationship with the Ford family.

Blair was Toronto’s police chief when Ford’s late brother Rob was caught smoking crack on video. The fallout from that scandal led to a bitter relationship between the two, peaking with the threat of a lawsuit from Blair and an apology from Ford.

As recently as November 2016, Ford showed in an interview with Global News that time had not healed the fractured relationship.

[READ MORE: Trudeau shakes up cabinet in major pre-election shuffle]

The appointment is part of a series of “deliberate decisions” by Trudeau, according to Liberal strategist Amanda Alvaro.

“If you know the background, I think the message is that this federal government intends to get things done and will not be bullied or dissuaded by the kind of heavy, sometimes divisive rhetoric that’s coming out of the new government,” she said.

Alvaro, the co-founder of Pomp and Circumstance PR, also served on Trudeau’s campaign team.

“They’re setting up for a fight in some cases,” Alvaro said, pointing to the already heated arguments Ottawa and Queen’s Park are having on climate change.

Conservative strategist and vice-chairman of Summa Strategies Tim Powers said the shuffle means the Ford-Trudeau relationship will come down to the “planet of the alpha males.”

Trudeau’s appointment of long-time family friend and political ally Dominic LeBlanc to the intergovernmental affairs portfolio is another sign of the fisticuffs to come, Powers said.

“The prime minister is trying to send a message to Doug Ford that ‘you can be tough but so can I,'” Powers said. “He’s ready to throw punches if that’s what is necessary.”

Speaking on background, a senior Liberal source said the shuffle is also a clear message that Ford will not be treated with the kid gloves that the Trudeau team used to manage U.S. President Donald Trump at the outset of that relationship.

“They’re not going to back-off, they’re not taking a dive on the mat,” the source said.

Trudeau also signalled that, telling reporters Wednesday that Blair was given the job to combat the “fear card” being “played by Conservatives across the country.”

“We need strong, reassuring voices to counter that and to demonstrate that the safety and security of Canadians and their communities is something that we will never flinch on, that we will continue to deliver,” Trudeau said.

Nowhere is that statement more relevant than on the issue of irregular border crossings. Minutes before Trudeau’s first meeting with Ford, the Progressive Conservatives dropped the gloves by blaming Trudeau for the spike in asylum seekers and demanding Ottawa pick up the tab.

Blair will be tasked with leading that file. And while his Ontario counter-part Lisa MacLeod was generous in her praise of Blair on Wednesday, the two governments are far apart on the issue of asylum seekers.

I enjoyed a productive chat with Bill on Sunday during our flight from Ottawa to Toronto and was pleased to drive him home. I’ve already reached out today to offer my congratulations and I look forward to meeting with him soon. https://t.co/rABFAKYwxr — Lisa MacLeod (@MacLeodLisa) July 18, 2018

On how to approach asylum seekers and the environment, Alvaro said Trudeau is putting in place people who he believes can deliver on his government’s mandate before the 2019 election.

“They have things that they need to get done and we’re heading into an election year,” she said. “There’s no turning back now.”

On that point Blair’s ability to perform as Toronto’s police chief while also at loggerheads with the Ford brothers who were mayor and councillor at the time shows he’s an “effective advocate,” Alvaro said.

[READ MORE: Ottawa to impose Ontario carbon tax when Ford scraps cap-and-trade]

Its those skills that Ford’s former leadership race manager and campaign director Michael Diamond said he believes is what got the people Trudeau appointed their new jobs.

“I don’t think it’s about personality, it’s about a divergence of priorities and mandate,” Diamond, a principal at Upstream Strategy Group, said.

That’s in line with the message Blair is pushing. In an interview with CBC he tried to set the personal aside by saying the rancorous relationship he had with Ford is water under the bridge.

“That’s very much the past,” Blair said. “I’ve also had the opportunity to work with the premier in his previous capacity as a city councillor. We’ve worked well together. I think we both recognize we have responsibilities to the people of Ontario and to the people of Canada to do what is right. And I see every opportunity for us to work collaboratively together to get the job done.”

Similarly, Ontario’s Deputy Premier Christine Elliott told reporters Wednesday that Ford and Blair are “professionals and I’m sure that they can deal with it on that basis.”

In spite of the frosty relations on some files, Ford did make an early move to show he could work with Ottawa. For example, on steel and auto tariffs and the NAFTA file Ford has pledged to work with Chrystia Freeland and stand “shoulder-to-shoulder” with Ottawa.

But a quick look at the comments from their colleagues show how quickly things can devolve between the Hill and Queen’s Park.

Fresh off her first meeting with Ontario’s Environment Minister Rod Phillips, his federal counterpart Catherine McKenna tweeted Wednesday that the new government’s policies were stepping back in time.

It may be back to the 90s in Ontario – sex ed, no climate plan. But boy does @MsLaurynHill rock. pic.twitter.com/dbKLrhC3ux — Catherine McKenna (@cathmckenna) July 19, 2018

And just last week federal Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen called the Ford government’s approach to asylum seekers “not Canadian.”

The thinking, according to the Liberal source, is that in a few months being “offside” with Ford will be an okay place to be. That’s not to say the federal Liberals want a fight, the source said, but that they’re ready for one.

The strategy is clear according to Powers, but not a sure bet.

“Justin Trudeau believes that Donald Trump and Doug Ford are probably two foils that he can employ when he seeks re-election in 2019,” he said.

“The risk for the prime minister is to underestimate the sense of frustration that exists in different quarters about a government knows best attitude.”

The key on the road to the election, according to Powers, is for Trudeau to avoid “looking down his nose” at Ford and his supporters.

In the meantime he wonders whether the “chest thumping on either side” will prevent each government from getting anything done in the lead up to the election.

“At some point both sides are going to have to deliver for their voters,” Powers said. “It can’t just be elbows up all the time so how will that come about to me that’s going to be the fascinating thing.”

Follow @MariekeWalsh