Ford and Carney Didn’t “Patch Things Up.” They Just Realized the Same Thing... Build the Damn Cars Here.
A quiet meeting. A $2.3B EV plan. Rebates with strings attached. And suddenly Ontario’s loudest guy looks… calm. That’s not politics. That’s strategy.
Sometimes the biggest political moves don’t happen at a podium.
They happen behind a closed door…
with two guys and no cameras.
Doug Ford.
Mark Carney.
Private meeting.
And afterward?
Ford goes from grumpy bulldog to happy Labrador.
That tells you everything.
Because Doug Ford doesn’t smile unless somebody just showed him jobs.
Here’s what actually changed
Not vibes.
Not party loyalty.
Not some “new friendship.”
Money.
Carney rolled out a five-year EV affordability program worth $2.3 billion.
And this isn’t the old “throw cash at Tesla bros” nonsense.
It’s targeted.
Very targeted.
Here’s the part most media skipped because reading government pages requires caffeine and patience…
• Up to $5,000 rebate for EVs
• $2,500 for plug-in hybrids
• ONLY if price is $50,000 or less
• ONLY from countries Canada has free-trade deals with
• No price cap for vehicles made in Canada
Read that last one again.
No cap for Canadian-made.
That’s not an environmental policy.
That’s industrial policy.
That’s manufacturing bait.
Translation into normal human language
You don’t get a rebate on…
• $120k Tesla toys
• Big luxury American trucks
• Chinese imports
• Expensive status symbols
You do get it on…
• affordable cars
• cars built in Canada
• or built inside trusted trade partners
Which means the message to automakers is dead simple…
“Build it here and we’ll help you sell it.”
That’s not ideology.
That’s math.
Why Ford suddenly looks thrilled
Because Ontario is car country.
Factories.
Parts plants.
Union jobs.
Supply chains.
If even ONE major player builds affordable EVs here, it means:
• assembly lines
• tool & die
• trucking
• steel
• thousands of paycheques
Doug Ford doesn’t care what colour the policy binder is.
He cares about smokestacks turning back on.
Carney basically walked in and said…
“Doug… we’re not subsidizing imports.
We’re building a domestic market to attract manufacturers.”
Ford probably went…
“Ohhhhhh… now I get it.”
And boom.
Best friends again.
The China wildcard (the part nobody’s talking about)
There’s another quiet angle.
Companies like BYD already proved they can build cheap EVs.
They built electric buses in Ontario before.
They know how.
If Canadians start buying lower-cost EVs and demand is there?
Guess what every global automaker thinks next?
“Maybe we should build locally and qualify for that rebate.”
That’s how you lure factories without screaming “subsidy.”
It’s bait.
Smart bait.
And then there’s the election chatter…
Ford reportedly nudged Carney toward calling an early vote for stability.
Makes sense.
Markets hate uncertainty.
Industry hates uncertainty.
Investors hate uncertainty.
A majority government means policy actually gets passed instead of dying in partisan mud wrestling.
Even betting markets have ticked up the odds of an election this year.
Not guaranteed.
But the groundwork is clearly being laid.
Big picture
This isn’t left vs right.
This isn’t climate virtue signaling.
This isn’t “buy green or else.”
It’s simpler.
It’s older.
It’s almost boring.
It’s…
Make stuff here.
Sell stuff here.
Keep jobs here.
The kind of policy your grandfather would understand in five minutes.
Which is probably why Ford finally stopped barking.
The Recap…
Quiet meeting.
Big shift.
$2.3B in EV rebates… but only if the cars are affordable and built here.
Doug Ford didn’t change his mind.
He finally saw the math.
This one’s about jobs, not ideology.
The Punchy line…
“Subsidies aren’t gifts — they’re bait. And Canada just set the hook.”
Source credit:
Based on reporting and public policy details from a trusted independent Canadian political commentator and federal government release.
🔎 The GeezerWise Standard
This space is built on disciplined thinking.
Facts over spin.
Verification before amplification.
Good-faith discussion over tribal noise.
I use AI tools to help shape my spoken drafts into clear writing.
The judgment, conclusions, and final message are mine.
If you’re new here, this explains how I decide what’s worth sharing:
How I Decide What’s Worth Sharing → [link]
💌 Subscribe at GeezerWise.com to receive future letters:
www.geezerwise.com/subscribe
— Fred Ferguson
GeezerWise
#CanadaStrong
Ford is a bit of a tool but this is indeed a smart move on Carney's part.
If anyone can talk sense into our illustrious premier, it’s Carney the Ford whisperer.