Canadian politics news: Ford and Plamondon finally sat down in the same room on Friday, and the first thing they did was swap hockey jerseys. Ten months after Doug Ford warned a Parti Quebecois win would be a disaster for the country, the Ontario premier welcomed Quebec Premier Paul St-Pierre Plamondon to Toronto for their first ever face-to-face meeting.
By Maplestime News Desk | Toronto, Ontario | November 8, 2026
Sources: EuropeSays | High on City | Last updated: November 8, 2026
Key Takeaways
- The Ford and Plamondon meeting took place privately in Toronto on Friday, November 6, 2026, at 5 p.m.
- It was their first in-person meeting since Plamondon’s Parti Quebecois won a minority government in the October 5 provincial election. Until now they had only spoken by phone.
- They discussed economic relations with the United States, business opportunities between Quebec and Ontario, barriers to interprovincial trade, the Alto high-speed rail project, health transfers and immigration.
- Photos show the two premiers shaking hands and exchanging hockey jerseys bearing their respective names.
- Plamondon was already in Toronto for personal and family reasons that weekend and reached out to Ford for the meeting.
What Ford and Plamondon Actually Talked About
The meeting was private and lasted into the evening, but Plamondon laid out the agenda himself in a post on X afterward. On the table: economic relations with the United States, business opportunities between Quebec and Ontario, barriers to interprovincial trade, the Alto high-speed rail project, health transfers and immigration.
“It was an excellent meeting, and I thank Mr. Ford for his warm welcome,” Plamondon wrote. Ford called the meeting “productive” and posted his own verdict: “Ontario and Quebec are stronger when we work together to stand up to tariffs, protect workers, attract investment and create jobs.”
The photo opportunity told its own story. The two premiers shook hands and swapped hockey jerseys with their names on the back, a deliberate bit of theatre from two leaders who spent most of this year trading insults through the media.
From Insults to Handshakes
The road to this meeting was not a friendly one. In January 2026, Ford said a Parti Quebecois win “would be a disaster for our country.” Plamondon shot back that the comment was a “bad show” and “a bit of a caricature.”
Ford changed his tone the moment Plamondon actually formed government in October. “I love Quebecers… I’m passionate. I’m a fighter, and I just connect with them,” he said then, and the two spoke by phone after the election result. The Ford and Plamondon meeting was the next step, and by Plamondon’s own account it was his idea. He was already in Toronto for personal and family reasons that weekend, and reached out to Ford, according to his spokesperson Alex Boissonneault, who spoke to Montreal radio station 98,5 FM.
Boissonneault said it was always the intention for the two to meet quickly, given how closely the Quebec and Ontario economies are tied together, and noted the timing: the day after the federal budget landed in Ottawa.
The Carney Contrast
The Ford and Plamondon handshake stands in sharp contrast to Plamondon’s cold shoulder for Ottawa. The Quebec premier has refused to meet Prime Minister Mark Carney in Ottawa or Montreal, insisting the meeting happen in Quebec City under provincial law. Their first meeting is now set for the Francophonie Summit in Cambodia, running November 14 to 16, with a second meeting in Quebec City likely in December.
Ford, for his part, has already sat down with Carney in Ottawa. “What’s more important than anything to Quebecers and Ontarians is certainty and stability and jobs. And that’s what we’re going to work together on,” Ford said after that meeting.
Why Ford Matters to Plamondon
Quebec is grumbling about flat federal health transfers and about Ottawa’s “productivity mega deduction,” which Quebec says would cost it $1 billion a year. Plamondon likely went into the Ford and Plamondon meeting looking for an ally on federal funding, and Ford is the biggest one available: the premier of the country’s largest province, with his own direct line to the prime minister.
Whether Ford will actually fight Quebec’s corner in Ottawa is another question. He has generally agreed with many of Carney’s decisions, and his interests do not always line up with Plamondon’s. A jersey swap is easy. A joint front on health transfers is harder, and it will cost Ford something with a prime minister he has been careful to keep on side.
What Happens Next
No concrete deals came out of the Ford and Plamondon meeting, and neither side announced a follow-up date. The real test comes in the next few weeks: first at the Francophonie Summit in Cambodia, where Plamondon finally meets Carney, and then in Quebec City in December, where the two are expected to sit down again. Watch whether Ford’s name comes up in either room. If Plamondon starts quoting his new Toronto friend in his dealings with Ottawa, the jersey swap will have meant something. If not, it was just a nice photo.
Maplestime will provide updates from the Ford and Plamondon meeting as announcements are made.
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Do you think a jersey swap and a friendly chat can actually move the needle on trade barriers and health transfers, or is this just two premiers posing for the cameras while Ottawa holds the purse strings? Tell us in the comments. And share this with every Canadian watching whether Ontario and Quebec can really work as a team.
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