Riding the blue wave’s hat trick, Oakville MPP Stephen Crawford will be returning to office with a new mandate.
In an intimate gathering at Stacks BBQ Smokehouse at Oakville Place, a visibly jubilant Crawford emphasized the accomplishment behind the victory.
“Three elections. That does not happen very often,” he told his supporters in his victory speech. “The people of Ontario have spoken and we're going to be working hard for the next four years to represent them.”
But the celebration was tempered with some sombre words as Crawford warned of “turbulent times ahead.” He echoed his boss, newly victorious Premier Doug Ford’s war of words over US President Donald Trump and threats to impose tariffs on Canada.
“We're going to get through it, but thankfully they elected Premier Ford because I did hear at the door a lot that they wanted Premier Ford to lead the pack right now through these terrible times,” Crawford stated in his speech.
When asked what possible strategies this may involve, he told Oakville News: “There's both the defensive strategy and the offensive. The offensive meaning dealing with the US and dealing with the US administration.”
“We'll have a new Prime Minister in a matter of weeks. We need to have a team Canada approach dealing with it.”
In regards to the offensive strategy, he believes his government must consider, “what are we going to do for certain businesses here that are affected by it? What are we going to do for certain workers who are affected by it? Depending on what cards we dealt.”
Mansoor Tanweer contributed live reporting to this story.
