The leader of Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, has kicked off his provincial election campaign, saying he needs a strong mandate to fight the tariffs threatened by U.S.

TORONTO — Ontario Premier Doug Ford officially set a provincial election in motion Tuesday for Feb. 27, more than a year before the next fixed election date. The election had been set for June 2026, but Ford said he needs a new mandate to deal with four years of a Donald Trump presidency in the United States.

While Premier Doug Ford insists that U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff threat is why he's calling an election 15 months ahead of schedule, there are plenty of reasons why the timing is politically advantageous to Ford and his Ontario PC Party.

Ontario premier Doug Ford has triggered an early election in the province, saying he needs a strong mandate to take on the tariff threat.

TORONTO - Ontario Premier Doug Ford is set to request the dissolution of provincial parliament today and trigger an early election for Feb. 27.

Ford sparked the early election on Tuesday afternoon with a visit to Lt.-Gov. Edith Dumont and a request for her to dissolve Ontario’s 43rd parliament. The proclamation she signed doing just that took effect at 4 p.m. Tuesday.

Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford pitched himself Wednesday as the best steward of the economy in the face of looming tariffs, but the other party leaders say his record from the last seven years suggests otherwise.