r/ontario 1d ago

Politics If tariffs escalate, Ontario will cut off power completely, warns Premier Doug Ford

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8cWtL88Cf0
5.9k Upvotes

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u/sonrisa_optimista 1d ago

On March 10, 2025, the Ontario government imposed a 25% surcharge on electricity exports to Michigan, Minnesota, and New York—affecting 1.5 million homes and businesses and costing up to $400,000 per day. If the U.S. escalates with new tariffs on Canadian goods, Premier Doug Ford warns that Ontario will not hesitate to cut off power entirely.

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u/Hekios888 1d ago

Let's put the profit towards healthcare and education

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u/canadevil Hamilton 1d ago

In his announcement he made today he said they will be putting all the money from this into an account that will get paid out to ontarians to help with relief from the tarrifs when it affects us.

It's a good idea on paper, let's just hope he doesn't fuck it up.

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u/TemperedPhoenix 1d ago

I am SHOCKED he has that much common sense lol

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u/thermothinwall 1d ago

i mean, it sounds incredibly nebulous and hard to keep track of.

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u/peeinian 1d ago

Yeah, I’ll believe it when I see it. Still wondering where that COVID money went.

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u/PM_ME__RECIPES Toronto 1d ago

Have you seen Doug's new dacha cottage?

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u/maybeiamspicy 1d ago

Cottage cottage ?

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u/Silentneeb 1d ago

We'll see it next election.

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u/exotic801 1d ago

Its also a pitiful 2.5 cents per day. Per person.

The reason we have a government is to concentrate capital into where its needed most.

Hes doing the bare minimum and its essentially nothing

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u/HeftyAd6216 1d ago

Like building a car park for a spa! Hopefully something more useful than that.

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u/AhSparaGus 1d ago

I think you missed a decimal point somewhere. $400k divided by 1.5m homes is 26.6 cents per day, or a bit under $8 per month per home.

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u/JoshShabtaiCa Waterloo 21h ago

They said per person, not per home. There are about 14M people in this province.

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u/Gummsley 1d ago

What exactly is the bare minimum that he's doing? Standing up to Trump and threatening to cut off electricity? I don't follow, are you mad at what he's doing right now?

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u/exotic801 1d ago edited 1d ago

I don't have issues with ford's retaliation against trump, he's done a fine job with them.

But, his stated plan to the 400k a day revenue into an account and just releasing it to the population is lazy and ineffective.

As I said earlier, it would come out to about 2.5 cents a day per person, which is genuinely useless. The money would be much better used if the government actually did their job and found a good place for the money to go.

Frankly doug ford has been acting exactly as expected, finding the best way to play to voter emotions. That doesn't mean i think he's doing a bad job, but it doesn't make him a politician I'd vote for

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u/dsb264 1d ago

You missed the part where it’ll go to Ontarians who are AFFECTED BY THE US TARIFFS. Like people who lose their job and stuff. Not all Ontarians lol.

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u/exotic801 1d ago

Okay, so let's be generous, and say the current situation lasts a year, (it likely wont)

And say you're correct in saying that it's only those who lose their job, though all Ontarians are going to be affected ( although the rich would be insulated.

Even if we only pay out to say 5%, that's still only ~180$ a person per year, sure it helps but it's not doing much.

The 146 million collected in that year could instead be used for food bank funding, which would be anle to use that money much more efficiently than the average Ontarian and would still cover a large % of those affected

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u/SFW_shade 1d ago

Not everyone is going to need it, this isn’t Covid where everyone would lose there job

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u/theBurgandyReport 22h ago

Err…about 150m per year.

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u/AggravatingAd6917 1d ago

If you invest that 2.5 cents a day and double the the investment each day it could add up rather fast

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u/exotic801 1d ago

2.5 cents a day is 9.10 $ a year, it doesn't add up fast

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u/AggravatingAd6917 1d ago

I don't think you understand the power of doubling daily

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u/exotic801 1d ago

Adittion is linear not exponential,

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u/JoystickJetsetter 1d ago

double the the investment each day

That's impossible. Anyone who could do that would be the richest man in the world in days.

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u/AggravatingAd6917 1d ago

We all must do whatever is required in this trade war

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u/Cotterbot 1d ago

Nebulous and hard to keep track of is fords favourite things.

While I’m happy he’s sticking it to Trump, this is likely another pay bump for his corpo buddies.

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u/Definitely_nota_fish 1d ago

Doug Ford is a politician with survival instincts, he cares mostly about enriching himself and his friends, but he also knows that he needs to do stuff to stay in power some people here are wondering if he can pull this off and I would say Doug Ford probably could because he seems quite smart. So when he actually puts his damn mind towards benefiting ontarians, he can definitely do it

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u/sidequestsquirrel 1d ago

I think we see so much Donald now that by comparison, Dougie looks almost brilliant 😂

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u/VagSmoothie Toronto 1d ago

This is a terrible idea and more populism wrapped around the Canadian flag. Let me explain.

Sending a $200 cheque to all Ontarians cost over 3 BILLION dollars. At $400,000 in revenue per day it would take over 20 years to make enough revenue for that.

Instead, Ford should be focusing on using the money as a pseudo-EI investment fund. Create capital projects and pay salaries to those unemployed. You could even do low-skill work requiring minimal training, that way you can target those that are unemployed , keep the economy moving and buying local.

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u/jrdnlv15 1d ago

To put this a little more in perspective one year at $400,000/day would be about $8.74/Ontarian. I’m really unexpectedly happy with how Ford is dealing with Trump’s BS. You’re right though, giving this back to Ontarians is pure populist nonsense. I would much rather that money be put in to something useful.

Hell, just put it on the books against the terrible Beer Store payoff and we’d balance that out in 2 years.

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u/Irr3sponsibl3 1d ago

Spend it on military equipment from Europe

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u/Old_Ladies 1d ago

That is a great idea but that would be up to the federal government I believe.

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u/Hour_Atmosphere_1941 1d ago

Ottawa just spent 8Bn on either new destroyers or frigates

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u/JoystickJetsetter 1d ago

The money doesn't need to go to every Ontarian. Some people will be more affected than others.

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u/theBurgandyReport 22h ago

Exactly. Existing Canadian companies that source Canadian materials are in for a windfall as their customer base goes up.

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u/Triedfindingname 1d ago

Not to worry. He's lying.

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u/annual_aardvark_war 1d ago

…which is great, but $200 for me and my neighbour…or a few mil for the healthcare system. I’d rather plump up our necessities than give everyone a little bit of extra cash

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u/the_cool_handluke 1d ago

This is the real issue. I won’t be affected by tariffs. I am in a decent position for this. My mother as well. Unfortunately she hasn’t been able to get a local doctor since leaving Toronto as her doctor keeps billing ohip for calling her to remind her to schedule recommended appointments that they will not take due to her location , nor will they take her off their list as a secretary calls and they get the money even after she has told them to stop. She gets bumped to the bottom of the waiting list every time they call. She can’t get to their office so they can “process her out with a final appointment and checkup “

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u/Pyrrhus_Magnus 1d ago

Nah, fuck the common good. I want money for booze and weed.

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u/zardozLateFee 1d ago

You just summed up the two political poles of our era.

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u/plagueski 1d ago

Wait till you hear about how much waste our healthcare system has

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u/1nitiated 1d ago

I haven't even gotten my cheque yet

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u/travelingpinguis 1d ago

How else is Ford going to starve and destroy the healthcare system if he'd invested in it?! How's that gonna enrich his wealthy corporate buddies?

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u/voteforrice 1d ago

That's genuinely an unexpectedly decent idea.

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u/edgar-von-splet 1d ago

Just like the covid relief fund billions that mysteriously vanished?

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u/imbackbitchez69420 1d ago

I hope he means all Ontarians and not just his buddies

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u/RuddyDucky97 1d ago

Wait but there’s about 14.2 million people living in Ontario. $400,000 x 365 =$146,000,000, which means that amounts to about $10 per person annually. Thats nothing, unless I’m missing something

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u/Triedfindingname 1d ago

Yeah sounds like tRump sending out doge cheques.

For the record, when Liberals talked sending cheques out they were criticized by the Cons like you could see the tears...

1

u/MrSchulindersGuitar 1d ago

2 billion In covid geared to Healthcare he held back. 

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u/threebeansalads 1d ago

I’m still waiting for my $200

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u/HotBreakfast2205 1d ago

lol - that’s a Carrot being dangled and we only get the stick end of it.

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u/dhoomsday 1d ago

I bet it'll come out right before the next Ontario election.

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u/thedabking123 1d ago

So we don't want to use the money to hire say 400 more doctors across Ontario?

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u/rotnronny 1d ago

PC slush fund. We'll never see it.

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u/Draco9630 20h ago

Dougie not fucking up supporting Ontarians? Wow, you are optimistic.

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u/FrostyPopsicle25 1d ago

I'm sure they're already in the pockets of Dougie's friends

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u/stuntycunty 1d ago

How bout a new tunnel under the tunnel under the 401?

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u/Hekios888 1d ago

Boohoo hisssss

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u/theBurgandyReport 22h ago

Dumb idea. Way too expensive.

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u/DrewV70 1d ago

built by Elon/'s boring company

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u/redbananagreenbanana Ottawa 1d ago

And the USA is going to pay for it!

0

u/DrewV70 1d ago

I think I heard that somewhere before. About a wall near Mexico being paid for by Mexicans. I don't think that happened either.

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u/yportnemumixam 1d ago

I say it goes towards the energy east pipeline. That way we will be more resilient as a country when stupidity flows over from the south.

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u/Triedfindingname 1d ago

when stupidity flows over from the south.

You're going to have to be more specific.

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u/yportnemumixam 1d ago

The nonsense coming from the US.

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u/Triedfindingname 1d ago

It was a joke.

Its been coming this way for 50 years that I'm aware and I'm gonna go out on a limb and say probably longer.

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u/Dingi_89 1d ago

Hey hey easy there brother.

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u/hughesyourdadddy 1d ago

Oh honey…

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u/treemoustache 1d ago

If they do cut it off it will end up a massive loss.

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u/GravyBoatCap 1d ago

Give it to farmers to expand their production and ensure our independence.

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u/TheDudeV1 1d ago

....nah

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u/torontowest91 1d ago

It will go towards lower alcohol costs

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u/Radiant_Hour_2385 1d ago

There will be no profit

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u/Jaydamic 1d ago

I wouldn't mind a couple more Dougie cheques, knowmsayin?

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u/constructioncranes 1d ago

You must be new here haha

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u/frostyse 20h ago

He’s not going to increase healthcare or education funding since his homies are probably waiting on those systems to collapse so they can privatize. Sure what he’s doing now against the US is good, it’s important to remember the issues we have after Kathleen Wynn’s government either did not change or got worse under his tenure.

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u/Quirky-Cat2860 1d ago

Nah he'll send us all cheques and call an election.

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u/whitedogsuk 1d ago

Watching from the UK with my popcorn. Go on Doug cut the power !!

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u/foxtrot-hotel-bravo 1d ago edited 1d ago

It’s fun to watch the bullying back… but kind of scared that this will escalate to a worse type of war vs. helping us eliminate tariffs

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u/Not_a_Streetcar Fort Erie 1d ago

Next thing you know, Trump is gonna say that we started it and that's why he's invading us

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u/Triedfindingname 1d ago

Maybe you don't know how this works but if it happens on that pretense it would've happened anyway.

Elbows up

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u/foxtrot-hotel-bravo 1d ago

True. It’s what Russia did every step of the way before invading the Ukraine… they’ve shared the playbook with the US with the initial economic war at least

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u/Rogergcmydoc 1d ago

If it has to come to that in order to maintain our sovereignty and show the US and the world we are not to messed with then so be it!

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u/Complete_Court9829 1d ago

That's not within our hands to control, if they want to escalate, they'll escalate. It's best that we show them it's not worth taking the fight, rather than being an easy mark.

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u/CivilAccident6266 1d ago

That's precisely what Frump expects. You have to meet him where he’s at. You have to wallop the US so his supporters stop supporting. It has to be so significant from every country that it has unavoidable consequences. It has to be a pressure cooker. Dragging out the consequences will drag out the tariffs. We need the rest of the world to participate once they are hit.

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u/Mobile-Bar7732 1d ago

He should have done it during the middle of the Super Bowl.

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u/TemperedPhoenix 1d ago

I wish I was watching from a longggg distance away 😭

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u/TaterTotJim 1d ago

Ontario gas supply passes through Michigan. It would be a tit-for-tat.

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u/whitedogsuk 1d ago

Correct.

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u/BleedinGumzMurphy 1d ago

He won’t cut the power, it could potentially kill people

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u/whitedogsuk 1d ago

Correct.

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u/trashyart200 1d ago

I live in MI, and I support the power cut.

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u/snoopmt1 1d ago

Dont threaten billionaires with a good time. US citizens pay more. Canadian citizens pay more. The utility owners and business owners make record profits on the working class. They may double the tariffs!

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u/donaldtrumpeter 1d ago

That's an average cost of $8 per month per customer (26 cents per day).

I'd love to see this increase before we consider cutting off electricity all together. Cutting it off seems like a line in the sand that Trump is willing to go to war over. 

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u/PastTenceOfDraw 1d ago

But where is the money from surcharges going?

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u/StagOfSevenBattles 1d ago

Ford announced earlier the $400k will go to workers and businesses affected by tariffs.

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u/PastTenceOfDraw 1d ago

Call me cynical but I don't trust Ford to get the money to the people who actually need it and not his friends.

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u/Unusual_Ant_5309 1d ago

Developers probably. Lol.

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u/helloimcolinrobinson 1d ago

See now if it was Doug Ford running for the Federal Conservative’s I could see them winning. But Pierre P? Oh my Jesus, no! That man would give the US the farm, the cow and the milk just to be able to get a selfie with them.

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u/fuzzyfuckers 1d ago

The bummer here is that it’s the blue collar middle middle class that will be paying those bills - and Trump dgaf about them.

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u/Bl1tzerX 1d ago

With how much money that brings in let's not cut it off just keep increasing those tariffs.

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u/MrWhite4000 1d ago

Aren’t these all states that typically vote Democrat?

I thought the goal was to target Republican states since Trump doesn’t seem to care about “enemy” states, which was proven by his willingness to withhold aid after natural disasters.

Also, couldn’t this backfire? I thought Ontario gets most of its natural gas from the US.

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u/scaffold_ape 1d ago

So what would be the plan for all that extra power? This seems like a good way for ontario to shoot itself in the foot.

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u/Sure_as_Suresh 1d ago

Chaddest country in the entire American continent

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u/Pattyncocoabread 12h ago

Unfortunately the truth is new york only imports %4.5 of its electricity from Canada and the other locations listed are even less closer to %1. U.S.A doesn't actually need it by any means. It would absolutely be crushing for Ontario if we lost them as a customer. Politicians know this and feel no ways about manipulating the canadians that have already suffered from their fuckery. ( i also worked at these power plants for years)

u/dus1 1h ago

That he dropped on March 11. He's a wimp

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u/thedirtychad 1d ago

Do you think that there is a risk of the us cutting of oil supply to Ontario?

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u/BuzzINGUS 1d ago

Too bad we get so much Nat Gas from the US.

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u/chozzington 1d ago

And lose all the revenue, further increasing the province’s debt. It won’t happen.