Full text: Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s third election victory speech

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Ontario Premier Doug Ford captured an historic, third-straight majority government in a rare mid-winter election that revolved around crippling tariffs threatened by the U.S. president. Here is his victory speech, in full:

Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Boy, what a crowd. Thank you so so much, and what a night, and what a result. Thank you so much. Together, we have made history. Together, we have secured a strong, historic, third majority mandate — a mandate to protect Ontario. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for being here, for sharing this incredible moment with me. To the thousands of volunteers right across this province who braved the cold, who knocked on over 2 million doors: Tonight belongs to you. Thank you. I want to begin by thanking Carla and my daughters for your endless support. I couldn’t do this without you. I also want to thank — I also want to thank Marit Stiles, Bonnie Crombie, Mike Schreiner, and every single person who put their name on a ballot. We can we can disagree on policy, but there’s no question, no question at all: each one of them loves our province, and each one of them loves Canada, the greatest country on Earth.

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Democracy only works if people are willing to step up and step forward. Our province is stronger because of your decision to do so. So I want to thank all the candidates. During my time in office, I hope I’ve proven, I will work with anyone; I will work with everyone, to get things done now as we stare down the threat of Donald Trump’s tariffs, I will continue to do just that. I will work with every level of government, and every political stripe, because fighting back against Donald Trump, standing up for Canada — it will take a full Team Ontario effort; it will take a full Team Canada effort. Friends — friends — over the last seven years, we have made so much progress together. Over 1 million more people are working today than when we were elected in 2018. We’ve attracted over $70 billion in new investments into our economy, in new auto and battery plants in our manufacturing sector, in new life science facilities in Ontario’s growing tech sector. Now together, we have to fight hard to protect our progress. This election, we ask the people for a mandate, a strong mandate that outlives and outlasts the Trump administration, a mandate to do whatever it takes to protect Ontario. Well, friends, the people have spoken. They’re ready to stand up for Canada.

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This election, we ask the people for a mandate to make Ontario the most competitive place in the G7 to invest, create jobs and do business. The people said, yes. We — we asked the people for a mandate to unleash the awesome economic potential of the Ring of Fire. The people said yes. We asked the people for a mandate to build up our economy by tearing down internal trade barriers, and the people said yes. We asked the people for a mandate to cut red tape and the excuses, streamline approvals and build things faster. The people said, yes. We asked the people for a mandate to get the federal government out of our way so we can get shovels in the ground on the projects that will build the True North strong and free. The people said, yes. We asked the people for a mandate to build pipelines, to build rail lines and transmission lines, to diversify our trade, find new markets, new customers, and rely less on the old ones. The people said, yes, we asked the people for a mandate to clean up our streets, crack down on crime, end encampments and protect schools and day-cares from drug injection sites. The people said yes, and we asked the people for a mandate to build Highway 413, the Bradford bypass. Highway 4, Highway 7, Highway 11, Highway 69 to bring sanity back to bike lanes, to tunnel the 401, to upload Ottawa LRT and build the future of GO Transit across Greater Toronto Area. The people said, yes.

This is our plan to protect Ontario. It’s a plan that offers big and bold ideas. It’s a vision for the future of our great province and a vision for the future of our economy. Ontario is blessed with everything we need to succeed: the best and most skilled workers anywhere in the world, a pipeline of world class talent, with 70,000 STEM graduates each and every single year, northern Ontario’s enormous God-given potential offering every critical mineral the world wants, every critical mineral the world needs, and one of the cleanest, greenest grids in the world, with the first small modular nuclear reactors in the G7.

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You know, folks, it’s no wonder the world has their eyes on us: they’re looking at Ontario with envy. Now, it’s up to us to unlock our potential, roll up our sleeves, to get to work. We’ll retrain workers for better jobs and bigger paychecks. We’ll retool companies for new customers and new markets. We’ll re-shore supply chains to bring good jobs back home. We’ll rebuild roads and highways to keep people working and keep our economy competitive. Friends, this election, we promised to do whatever it takes to protect Ontario, and I’m so proud of the support we received. Together, we made more inroads into new communities, with more people seeing themselves reflected in our party, in our priorities, a record number of unions, including first time supporters, like first time supporters like our great firefighters, our great police, UNIFOR locals, hospitality workers and more trade unions; mayors from every region of Ontario; and every day, hard working people in Thunder Bay, Timmins and Sault, Ste Marie in Eastern Ontario, Hamilton and Windsor in Brampton and Mississauga. Your support is truly humbling. I will never, ever take it for granted. I will never stop working for you, because we’re in a battle for the future of our province, for the future of our country.

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I promise you this, I will wake up every day and I will fight like I’ve never fought before. I will — I will fight for every auto worker in Windsor, Woodstock, St. Thomas and Oakville in Brampton, Ingersoll, Oshawa, Alliston and Cambridge. I will fight for every miner in Timmins, Thunder Bay and Sudbury. I will fight for every steel maker in Sault Ste. Marie Nanticoke and Hamilton. I will fight every for every worker on the factory floor, every student starting their career and every senior starting their retirement. I will fight for First Nations communities, for newcomers, for everyone in Ontario looking to get ahead. I will fight for you.

This election was about who we are, about the future we choose for ourselves. Donald Trump thinks he can break us. He thinks he can divide and conquer, pit region against region. Donald Trump doesn’t know what we know. He is underestimating us. He is underestimating the resilience of the Canadian people, the Canadian spirit. Make no mistake, Canada won’t start a fight with the U.S., but you better believe we’re ready to win one. So thank you. Thank you, everyone. So folks, let me be clear, Canada will never, ever be the 51st state, and Canada is not for sale.

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Over the last weeks and months, I’ve seen the best of our province, the best of our country, hard working people standing up for what’s decent, for what’s right. It’s you, the people who will get us through this, who will fight for our future. Together, we’re going to emerge from this stronger and more united than ever before, from coast to coast to coast. We’re going to stand together. We’re going to fight, we’re going to fight for our province. We’re going to fight for our country. Together, we’re going to protect Ontario. I want to thank you, and thank God bless the people of Canada. May God bless the people of Ontario. Thank you, thank you.

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