Randall Denley: Ford wisely keeps his cool over Stelco's layoffs - National Post
Ontario Premier Doug Ford outside his office on Friday, September 25, 2026. Photo by Peter Power /Peter PowerArticle contentOntario Premier Doug Ford is showing admirable restraint in the face of the latest tariff-related layoffs.
Tuesday, Stelco announced the indefinite layoff of 350 steelworkers in Hamilton and Nanticoke, Ont. citing U.S. tariffs. One would have expected a classic rant from the premier, something along the lines of his pouring out a bottle of Crown Royal whisky last fall and complaining loudly because the distiller was closing an Ontario bottling plant (even though the product would still be made and bottled in Canada).
Ford had already taken a run at Stelco’s American boss last year, saying he “doesn’t give two hoots” about his Canadian workers because he supports tariffs. The premier went on to suggest that Stelco should get a new owner, or perhaps the provincial government should buy it.
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Ford’s target was Lourenco Goncalves, the president and CEO of Cleveland-Cliffs, the American company that owns Stelco. Goncalves had praised American steel tariffs, the same ones that have now come back to bite his own Canadian operations.
Rather than blasting Goncalves after the layoff news this week, Ford let Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy lead the government response. The minister called the Stelco layoffs “a business decision,” which is exactly what it was.
In an interview with Global News, Goncalves said the affected operations produce more galvanized steel than the Canadian market itself can absorb and so they only make sense if they can export to the U.S. ”I need an ability to sell more galvanized steel. I can’t increase the domestic market in Canada … if they (Americans) shut down imports of galvanized completely, 100 per cent, we still have more production of galvanized steel in Canada than the domestic markets of Canada. So there’s only one solution. We need to be able to export.”
Bethlenfalvy said Stelco was eligible for government financial help but did not apply for it. Good for them. Why take taxpayers’ money to keep producing steel for which there is no market?
