The leader of Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, has kicked off his provincial election campaign, saying he needs a strong mandate to fight the tariffs threatened by U.S.

Doug Ford, Ontario’s Conservative leader, has recently said that President Trump was “going to try to devastate our country” with a plan to impose tariffs on Canadian exports.

President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to slap steep tariffs on Canada and other friendly nations have left Toronto with some of the world’s worst-performing oil and gas stocks.

Trump pledged in his inaugural address that tariffs would be coming in a speech in which he promised a golden era for America. He later said Canada and Mexico could be hit with the tariffs as soon as Feb. 1, though he signed an executive order requesting a report coordinated by the Secretary of Commerce by April. 1.

Roughly $900 billion in annual trade between Canada and the United States — and with it, traditionally chummy bilateral ties — is on the brink of upheaval, with President Donald Trump threatening to impose sweeping tariffs on Canada as early as this weekend.

Ontario premier Doug Ford has triggered an early election in the province, saying he needs a strong mandate to take on the tariff threat.