The auto industry in Ontario is further threatened, the premier believes, by a new deal between Canada and China that will see 100 per cent tariffs on Chinese EVs all but removed in exchange for China dropping tariffs on canola.

Multiple party insiders confirm that the Feb. 9 deadline will include the release of all key details governing the race: nomination timelines, campaign start and end dates, registration fees and voting procedures.

“There is no Canadian EV industry to destroy,” said Ian Lee, a business professor at Carleton University. “We don’t make inexpensive EVs in Canada. In fact, we don't even make expensive EVs in Canada. Most of the EVs available in Canada are coming in from the States.”

The changes were introduced under the latest version of the province’s Working for Workers Act, part of a series of legislative updates the Ford government says are meant to modernize employment standards. But several employment lawyers told QP Briefing the new rules rely almost entirely on voluntary compliance.

He called for the federal government to support Ontario's auto sector by ending the EV sales mandate, which is currently paused, and scrapping federal fees.

Multiple senior Liberal insiders, including executive council members, said frustration has been mounting for weeks over the party’s failure to release rules, timelines or basic parameters for the leadership contest that will choose Bonnie Crombie’s successor.

While Premier Doug Ford has ruled out a cabinet shuffle this winter, staffing changes are still rippling through Queen’s Park, with key departures and new arrivals inside the Premier’s Office, the finance minister’s team and the Progressive Conservative Party.

In a letter sent to Ford this Friday, Manitoba Opposition Leader Obby Khan appealed to the premier as a “fellow Progressive Conservative Leader,” urging him to reconsider removing the Manitoba-made whisky from Ontario liquor stores.