Randall Denley: Ford wisely keeps his cool over Stelco’s layoffs

Ontario 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.

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?

Not that Ontario was unwilling to fund that futile activity. Bethlenfalvy said Stelco’s failure to ask for government help was “unfortunate,” then added “But we stand at the ready … our door is always open.”

Bethlenfalvy cited the $100-million loan the provincial government gave Canadian-owned Algoma steel last year. Shortly after receiving the money, the company laid off 1,000 workers.

By those standards, the Stelco layoff was a bargain. While the layoffs are indefinite, it’s unlikely that Stelco will disappear altogether. Cleveland-Cliffs paid $3.4 billion for Stelco just two years ago. That would be a big hit to take.

While Ontario’s response was muted, Prime Minister Mark Carney reacted strongly. He said the workers were “betrayed by the company,” which had made commitments to maintain employment when it bought Stelco in 2024. Carney said there was federal money available to help Stelco retain its workers, but the company wouldn’t take it.

Again, good on Stelco. Given Carney’s background in economics, one would have expected him to understand that there’s no point in making a product that lacks a market.

Part of the problem that Canadian-based steelmakers have is that while Canada talks a good game about buying Canadian, the country imports a lot of foreign steel. Canada imports between 60 and 65 per cent of the steel it uses, most of that from the U.S.

The federal government has taken modest steps to limit steel imports, but the big pressure comes from the Americans’ 50 per cent tariff on Canadian steel exports. About half of Canada’s steel production goes to the U.S.

The Ford government didn’t skate away from the Stelco issue without some awkwardness. Ford’s theme in the last election was “Protect Ontario” and that has been the slogan and unifying element of most of what he’s done since.

As the steel layoffs illustrate, there’s a limit to government’s ability to protect jobs when tariffs make an industry’s product no longer viable.

That hasn’t stopped the government from spending public money on an incessant ad campaign promoting the Protect Ontario theme. The online publication The Trillium has reported that the government spent $19.5 million on Protect Ontario ads in 2025–26.

New Democrat MPP Jamie West hit the nail on the head when he said that workers are “sick and tired of seeing these Protect Ontario ads but not seeing any workers protected.”

It was also revealed Tuesday that at least one element of Ontario’s protection plan has been rather oversold. Bethlenfalvy faced questions from a legislature committee about a $5-billion Protect Ontario fund that it had promised to use to help companies hurt by tariffs. It turns out that only $140 million has been provided so far. All but $40 million of that was consumed by the handout to Algoma Steel.

Billions of dollars from the account were supposed to be transferred into a new fund designed to support investment opportunities in emerging economic sectors. That plan is now on the back burner, Bethlenfalvy said, citing economic uncertainty.

Ford’s Protect Ontario plan is a bit wobbly, but his government deserves at least some credit for not overreacting to the Stelco layoffs. With tariffs and counter-tariffs in place, some job losses are inevitable. Reacting with outrage doesn’t make much sense.

National Post

randalldenley1@gmail.com