Business
Ontario suspends electricity surcharge after Trump doubles tariffs
MxM News
Quick Hit:
Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced Tuesday that the province is suspending its 25% surcharge on electricity exports to the U.S. following President Trump’s decision to double tariffs on Canadian aluminum and steel.
Key Details:
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Ford confirmed Ontario’s suspension of the electricity surcharge after Trump’s tariff escalation put Canadian industries under pressure.
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The Ontario premier said he and Lutnick would meet with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Thursday in Washington to discuss a “renewed USMCA.”
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In a statement on X, Ford acknowledged the move, stating, “In response, Ontario agreed to suspend its 25 percent surcharge on exports of electricity to Michigan, New York and Minnesota.”
Diving Deeper:
Just hours after President Trump doubled tariffs on Canadian aluminum and steel, Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced Tuesday that the province will suspend its 25% electricity surcharge on power exports to three U.S. states. The policy reversal comes as Ontario seeks to avoid further economic retaliation from Washington.
Trump’s latest round of tariffs—upping duties on Canadian steel and aluminum to 50%—were issued in direct response to Ontario’s electricity tax on U.S. consumers in Michigan, New York, and Minnesota. The move threatened to escalate an already tense trade standoff, with Trump warning of additional penalties targeting Canada’s auto sector if broader trade disputes weren’t addressed.
Ford took to X to confirm Ontario’s decision to pull back on the surcharge, saying he had a “productive conversation” with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. The two will meet in Washington on Thursday alongside U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to discuss a possible “renewed USMCA,” signaling a potential shift in trade relations between the two nations.
“In response, Ontario agreed to suspend its 25 percent surcharge on exports of electricity to Michigan, New York and Minnesota,” Ford and Lutnick stated in a joint announcement.
The suspension of Ontario’s surcharge marks a significant concession in the ongoing trade dispute, which has sent shockwaves through financial markets and rattled Canadian industries. Trump had labeled Ontario’s surcharge an “abusive threat” and pledged to take decisive action to ensure American energy security.
Beyond the immediate tariff battle, Ford’s willingness to engage in talks about a “renewed USMCA” could indicate Canada’s growing concern over Trump’s broader trade agenda. The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, originally signed during Trump’s first term, remains a key economic framework, but Trump has long criticized Canada’s tariffs on American dairy and its limited contributions to North American security.
While Ontario’s suspension of the electricity surcharge could ease tensions in the short term, the broader U.S.-Canada trade relationship remains in flux as Trump continues pushing for more favorable terms for American industries.
2025 Federal Election
Conservative MP Leslyn Lewis warns Canadian voters of Liberal plan to penalize religious charities
From LifeSiteNews
A Liberal government plan for pro-life and religious groups to be stripped of their tax charity status is an ‘assault’ on people’s faith, MP Leslyn Lewis said.
Canadian Conservative pro-life MP Leslyn Lewis said a plan supported by Mark Carney’s Liberal government that calls for pro-life and religious groups to be stripped of their tax charity status should be an election issue as it’s an “assault” on people’s faith.
“The Liberal plan to revoke the charitable status of religious organizations is an assault on people of faith across Canada,” Lewis wrote on X last week.
Lewis linked her post to an opinion piece published in the Niagara Independent by Lee Harding with the headline “Canada’s sleeper election issue: the loss of charitable status for religious organizations.”
Harding observed that the “potential loss of charitable status for religious charities might be the biggest sleeper issue in the federal election.”
“The Liberal government proposed the change and only Conservatives opposed,” Harding said.
Lewis noted that 40 percent of the 85,600 charities in Canada are religious organizations.
“These are organizations that feed the hungry, support the elderly, rally around people in crisis, provide addiction recovery services – and this is just the tip of the iceberg,” she wrote.
“It is quite honestly disgusting that the Liberals would try to sneak in this unconscionable attack in a Finance Committee report, just before Parliament prorogued.”
She noted how a recent Cardus study shows that if these charities lose their tax status “Canadians would lose $16.5B in services.”
Canadians will head to the polls on April 28. Harding noted how “One needn’t be religious to see the harm in such uncharitable changes to Canada’s charitable sector.”
“Fortunately, Canadians can vote down this misguided attack on religious charities. Whether they do so is up to them.”
Last month, the Conservative Party of Canada launched a petition blasting a recent finance committee recommendation supported by Carney that calls for pro-life and religious groups to have their charity tax status revoked.
The Finance Committee’s pre-budget report proposal released in December 2024 by the all-party Finance Committee suggested that legislation is needed to strip pro-life pregnancy centers and religious groups of their charitable status.
The legislation would amend the Income Tax Act and Income Tax. Section 429 of the proposed legislation recommends the government “no longer provide charitable status to anti-abortion organizations.”
All federal parties except for the Conservatives under Pierre Poilievre support the finance report’s recommendation.
Canada’s Catholic bishops have blasted the report’s recommendations and have urged the Liberal federal government to not proceed with any legislation that would target pro-life groups of religious organizations’ charity tax status.
The good news is that in light of former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s shutting of Parliament in order to step down from office, already planned legislation to strip pro-life pregnancy centers of charity status is on pause, at least for now.
Despite the reality that Poilievre is also pro-abortion, the former Trudeau now Carney Liberal government has in recent months ramped up his abortion rhetoric on social media in a seeming bid to rally its base, consistently boasting about his government’s desire to make killing a child in the womb easier than ever. Trudeau also repeatedly bragged about his pro-abortion record in the House of Commons.
Show your Alberta side. Buy Local. |
When the going gets tough, Albertans stick together. That’s why Alberta’s government is launching a new campaign to benefit hard-working Albertans.
Global uncertainty is threatening the livelihoods of hard-working Alberta farmers, ranchers, processors and their families. The ‘Buy Local’ campaign, recently launched by Alberta’s government, encourages consumers to eat, drink and buy local to show our unified support for the province’s agriculture and food industry.
The government’s ‘Buy Local’ campaign encourages consumers to buy products from Alberta’s hard-working farmers, ranchers and food processors that produce safe, nutritious food for Albertans, Canadians and the world.
“It’s time to let these hard-working Albertans know we have their back. Now, more than ever, we need to shop local and buy made-in-Alberta products. The next time you are grocery shopping or go out for dinner or a drink with your friends or family, support local to demonstrate your Alberta pride. We are pleased tariffs don’t impact the ag industry right now and will keep advocating for our ag industry.”
Alberta’s government supports consumer choice. We are providing tools to help folks easily identify Alberta- and Canadian-made foods and products. Choosing local products keeps Albertans’ hard-earned dollars in our province. Whether it is farm-fresh vegetables, potatoes, honey, craft beer, frozen food or our world-renowned beef, Alberta has an abundance of fresh foods produced right on our doorstep.
Quick facts
- This summer, Albertans can support local at more than 150 farmers’ markets across the province and meet the folks who make, bake and grow our food.
- In March 2023, the Alberta government launched the ‘Made in Alberta’ voluntary food and beverage labelling program to support local agriculture and food sectors.
- Through direct connections with processors, the program has created the momentum to continue expanding consumer awareness about the ‘Made in Alberta’ label to help shoppers quickly identify foods and beverages produced in our province.
- Made in Alberta product catalogue website
Related information
- Buy Local Alberta
- Made in Alberta Product Catalogue
- Alberta Agri-Food Products and Services Export Catalogue
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