U.S. ambassador should apologize to Ontario rep over reported tirade: Ford

TORONTO – Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on the U.S. ambassador to Canada to apologize to Ontario’s representative in Washington after sources say the ambassador shouted profanely about the province’s anti-tariff ad.

Sources who spoke to trade representative David Paterson after the incident at an event Monday in Ottawa but were not authorized to speak about it publicly told The Canadian Press that Pete Hoekstra yelled at Paterson over an ad Ontario was running in the U.S.

Ford said Wednesday that he understands that exchanges get heated sometimes, but the right thing for Hoekstra to do would be to call Paterson and apologize.

“It’s unbecoming of an ambassador,” Ford said. 

“(I’ve) never heard of this in my entire life, but the ambassador is a different type of cat. He thinks I’m a different type of cat, but he’s a different type of cat as well. So Pete, do the right thing. Give the guy a call. Let’s move on.”

U.S. President Donald Trump called off trade negotiations with Canada last week, citing an ad from the Ontario government that uses clips of former president Ronald Reagan saying tariffs do not work in the long term. 

Ford ultimately pulled them, but only after letting them run through the weekend during the World Series, which prompted Trump to threaten to add an additional 10 per cent tariff on Canadian goods.

The U.S. Embassy in Ottawa declined to comment and Paterson did not return a request for comment.

Ford said it was not his intention to “poke the president in the eye,” rather he wanted to start a conversation about how Trump’s tariffs will ultimately hurt Americans.

The Wall Street Journal ran a letter to the editor Wednesday from Ford with a similar message.

“Mr. Trump called our ad a ‘hostile act,’ but it was meant as an encouragement to embrace what has made our nations great,” Ford wrote.

“Together the U.S. and Canada can usher in a new century of shared economic prosperity by dropping tariffs, rejecting protectionism and promoting free and fair trade.”

Carney said in Malaysia on Monday that “very detailed, very specific, very constructive” trade negotiations with the U.S. had been going well and the two sides were close to a deal. He said “everything changed” from the perspective of the president when the ads started running.

Ford urged Hoekstra to bury the hatchet and noted another, friendlier, dispute the two have.

“I’ve got a bet on with him that if the Jays win (the World Series), he has to wear a Jays jersey in Ottawa, the most popular thing – matter of fact, he’d be more popular if he wore a Jays jersey – and if the Jays lose, which they aren’t going to lose, I’ve got to wear an L.A. Dodgers jersey,” Ford said. 

“So this is what I mean … Call me up, shout and scream at me (instead). I can go with the best of them.”

– With a file from Sarah Ritchie

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 29, 2025.