Mayor Olivia Chow has assembled Team Toronto.
On Thursday, Chow unveiled a 13-member team to help respond to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats. Documents obtained by TorontoToday show further, unreported measures under the city’s consideration.
The mayor’s “economic action team” — which includes representatives from Toronto’s business community, as well as political, labour and auto-sector insiders — will provide insight on how to “protect local businesses and jobs from the U.S. administration’s threat of punitive economic measures and will promote Toronto’s shop local and buy Canadian campaigns,” according to a press release.
A draft of Chow’s broader plan, obtained by TorontoToday through a Freedom of Information request, reveals the mayor is considering contracting a third-party firm to model various economic scenarios should the tariffs — in some form or another — come to pass.
Pat Tobin, Toronto’s general manager of economic development, provided his own modelling to the new panel at its inaugural meeting Thursday. That economic forecast was kept behind closed doors.
“As a financial and business hub, Toronto drives U.S.-Ontario trade, with Ontario’s merchandise exports to the U.S. rising 25 per cent from $202B to $252B between 2019 and 2023,” the city document obtained by TorontoToday notes.
City plans outreach strategy to U.S. businesses in Toronto
Alongside the economic action panel announced Thursday, Chow also established a U.S. Engagement Secretariat, composed of senior Toronto bureaucrats, that is coordinating work across the entire civil service.
According to the obtained document, Chow’s team plans to launch a “corporate call program” with Toronto-based American businesses “to discuss the potential impact on their operations and any directions from their headquarters.”
The secretariat hopes to meet with David Paterson, the province’s agent-general in Washington, D.C., to align the city with the overall “Team Canada” response to the tariff threat.
With an eye to economic diversification, meetings with trade representatives from other nations’ local consulates are also on the secretariat’s wish list, per the document.
The group will meet semi-regularly over the next few months to update the plans as the situation changes. Chow’s staff said they want to be nimble because President Trump is unpredictable.
An array of small measures
Canada is already subject to new 25 per cent U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum. More could be coming as soon as next Tuesday — the date Trump threatened to impose 25 per cent across-the-board tariffs on all Canadian goods.
The president stoked fears of an all-out trade war in January but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was able to negotiate a last-minute reprieve.
Earlier this month, Chow and her fellow city councillors used their limited powers to take a few steps to hit back at the Americans.
Chow tasked city manager Paul Johnson with determining whether Toronto could reshape its procurement policies to cut out American suppliers. That includes potentially cancelling existing contracts.
However, days after Chow made that promise, Johnson told council that less than 10 per cent of Toronto’s procurement comes from the U.S. He also warned a blanket ban on American contractors “would not be prudent for the City of Toronto.”
Council also voted to approve a campaign spearheaded by Eglinton-Lawrence Coun. Mike Colle to encourage residents to buy more local goods.
Colle didn’t hold back in expressing his distaste for President Trump and the tariffs.
“This is like an economic 9/11 hit on Canada,” he said. “We can’t just take this lying down.”
Council also took a small shot at Tesla CEO Elon Musk, one of Trump’s closest advisers who runs the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency that’s taken a hatchet to the U.S. civil service and dozens of federal programs.
Currently, taxi and limo operators — but not those who work for rideshare companies like Uber — can get a discount on city licensing fees if they buy an electric car. Chow’s motion removed new Teslas from the list of eligible vehicles.
Chow commits to building 'healthy' reserve fund
While the tariffs could be a huge hit to Canada’s economy, Chow assured Torontonians that the city’s finances are in decent shape.
“We're building healthy reserve funds because we're worried about rainy days, and sure enough, rainy days are upon us,” Chow said.
But the city “may have to tap into” its nearly $14-billion reserve fund to weather the storm, she added.
Chow and Don Valley North Coun. Shelley Carroll, the city’s budget chief, are the only two city hall representatives on the mayor’s new economic action team.
The other members include:
- Yung Wu, chair of NFQ Ventures and the Toronto Region Board of Trade
- Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association
- Brian Topp, chair of Toronto Hydro and a longtime senior NDP staffer
- Dave Samuel, partner at Birch Hill Equity Partners
- Luke Robertson, vice-president of Cadillac Fairview
- Rod Phillips, chair of Toronto Global and former Ontario finance minister
- John Kiru, executive director of the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas
- Blake Hutcheson, CEO of the OMERS public pension fund
- Zabeen Hurji, executive advisor at Deloitte
- Brad Carr, CEO of Mattamy Homes; and
- Andria Babbington, president of the Toronto and York Region Labour Council
