The Steel Gambit: Stiles Bets on Job Losses to Force Ford's Hand

At Queen's Park, the battle over the future of Hamilton's steel industry has shifted from a policy debate to a high-stakes game of political chicken. As first reported by Global News Toronto, Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles is betting that the immediate threat of hundreds of job losses at Stelco will force Premier Doug Ford to move beyond rhetoric and commit taxpayer funds to a controversial public ownership model.

Stelco—owned by the U.S.-based Cleveland Cliffs—has begun laying off hundreds of workers, claiming the Ontario manufacturing plant was producing more steel than could be sold within Canada. While the NDP describes public ownership as the only viable path to save approximately 350 jobs, the move is as much about political leverage as it is about industrial strategy.

Stiles is effectively calling the Premier's bluff. Global News Toronto reports that in August 2025, Premier Ford reacted to comments made by Cleveland Cliffs owner Lorenco Goncalves—who praised Donald Trump's tariffs as "bold action"—by suggesting that Goncalves "doesn't give two hoots about his workers at Stelco." At that time, Ford mused that the province might simply "buy em."

Now, Stiles is demanding the Premier "put his money where his mouth is," arguing that provincial ownership would secure a reliable supply of Canadian steel and provide a strategic advantage for future nation-building projects. This pressure is being amplified by Federal NDP Leader Avi Lewis, who has called for the nationalization of the firm, citing the fact that more than 500 workers in Hamilton face layoffs.

However, the mechanism for such a takeover is fraught with complexity. Global News Toronto notes that the NDP's proposal is "ambitious" and would require federal backing. While the United Steelworkers union supports public ownership, the legal reality is complicated by the 2024 Investment Canada Act approval that allowed Cleveland Cliffs to acquire Stelco. Federal Industry Minister Mélanie Joly has already warned Stelco that the deal was contingent on maintaining union jobs, though Stelco maintains it is in compliance.

For the Ford government, the strategy is one of cautious avoidance. Global News Toronto reports that government insiders dismiss the Premier's previous comments as being made "in passing." A senior source indicated the government is adopting a "wait and see" approach, suggesting the federal government must lead the response and that options should only be assessed after the U.S. mid-term elections.

**Opinion:** In my view, Stiles is playing a calculated game. By tying the survival of Hamilton's industrial core to the Premier's own previous words, she is attempting to trap Ford in a position where refusing to intervene looks like a betrayal of the working class, while agreeing to it validates a socialist-leaning model of nationalization. The NDP is betting that the optics of mass layoffs will outweigh the government's hesitation to enter a costly and legally complex ownership battle with a U.S. corporate giant.