ManitobaManitoba’s premier and business community agree that U.S. tariffs are harmful and want them gone, but their opinions differ when it comes to Ontario’s effort to combat them.’We’ve stepped back a step or two,’ Chamber head says on rift between Ontario and Trump affecting tariff talksDarren Bernhardt · CBC News · Posted: Oct 24, 2025 3:54 PM EDT | Last Updated: 6 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 5 minutesManitoba Chamber of Commerce head Chuck Davidson, left, and Premier Wab Kinew have different takes on the reaction to Ontario’s anti-tariff ad. (Travis Golby/CBC and Aaron Vincent Elkaim/The Canadian Press)Manitoba’s premier and business community agree that U.S. tariffs are harmful and want them gone, but their opinions differ when it comes to Ontario’s effort to combat them.In a social media post Friday, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew appears in the screen of a vintage TV set, applauding an anti-tariff ad from Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s government and imploring him to keep it going. In the post, Kinew says the ads are effective and Canada stands with Ford.Chuck Davidson, the president and CEO of the Manitoba Chamber of Commerce, doesn’t agree.”We’ve probably stepped back a step or two,” he told CBC Manitoba’s Noon Show host Marjorie Dowhos in a Friday interview.”At the end of the day, we need to try to lower the temperature a little bit.”The ad from the Ontario government — which Ford said Friday will be pulled next week — features a minute-long excerpt from then U.S. president Ronald Reagan’s April 1987 radio address about free trade.Although the original address does include a section defending some tariffs the U.S. had imposed on Japan at the time, the parts included in the Ontario advertisement focus on Reagan’s views on tariffs more broadly.”High tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the triggering of fierce trade wars. Then the worst happens. Markets shrink and collapse, businesses and industry shut down, and millions of people lose their jobs,” Reagan said.In his post in support of the ad, Kinew said it represents Reagan’s views “accurately and powerfully,” and that U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs go against Reagan’s legacy.A screengrab from a Friday social media post in which Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew appears in the screen of a vintage TV set, applauding an anti-tariff ad from Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s government. (Wabber/Instagram)Late Thursday, Trump announced he was terminating all trade negotiations with Canada because of the ad, which he claims uses selective clips to skew Reagan’s message.”They fraudulently took a big buy ad saying that Ronald Reagan did not like Tariffs, when actually he LOVED TARIFFS FOR OUR COUNTRY, AND ITS NATIONAL SECURITY,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute has also taken issue with the ad, saying it misrepresents the presidential radio address. The institute said it “is reviewing its legal options in this matter.”Since taking office earlier this year, Trump has imposed several tariffs on international goods entering the U.S.That has impacted the economy and prompted retaliatory tariffs from Canada.The Manitoba Chamber’s Davidson said Ontario’s government, which has been deeply affected by the repercussions in the auto industry, is using the ad to let Americans know what a former president — like Trump, a Republican — has said about tariffs.He said he understands why Ford has taken that route, and that people in the U.S. need to understand Canada is extremely important to the American economy. “That can’t be overlooked,” Davidson said. “Tariffs are a lose-lose situation, and nobody’s going to benefit from this [ongoing feud].”A still image from a government of Ontario advertisement that uses part of a 1987 radio address by then-president Ronald Reagan to make a case against tariffs. (Government of Ontario)Manitoba has similarly felt the sting of tariffs, as 72 per cent of all products from the province, notably wood and steel, go to the United States.”They’re our number 1 customer by a mile,” Davidson said.”The bigger picture, unfortunately, is that we’re currently in the reality of renegotiating the CUSMA [the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement],” he said.”This is probably not going to help that relationship.”LIVE UPDATES | Carney says Canada prepared to continue trade discussions with U.S. after Trump calls them offThe tariffs have forced Canada to look at ways to reduce its reliance on the U.S. One approach, pushed by Davidson and the network of other chambers in the country, is reducing inter-provincial trade barriers.That has opened new markets, made trade easier and kept dollars in Canada, he said.But ultimately, the relationship between Canada and the U.S. is critical, he said — and for businesses and the economy to succeed, certainty around trade is necessary.Both sides need to go back to the table and find common ground, Davidson said.”That’s what business is looking for more than anything — how can we get a little bit more reliability in that trading relationship so business can operate as it has in the past?” he said.”Hopefully cooler heads will prevail and we can come to some conclusion to this situation that’ll be in the best interest of both consumers and businesses on both sides of the border. “ABOUT THE AUTHORDarren Bernhardt has been with CBC Manitoba since 2009 and specializes in offbeat and local history stories. He is the author of two bestselling books: The Lesser Known: A History of Oddities from the Heart of the Continent, and Prairie Oddities: Punkinhead, Peculiar Gravity and More Lesser Known Histories.
Manitoba premier lauds Ontario’s anti-tariff ad while business leader calls for ‘cooler heads’
