Ontario’s premier didn’t apologize for airing an anti-tariffs ad that angered President Donald Trump — but Canada’s prime minister did. Now, Canadians are using social media to process the awkward situation.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters on Saturday that he had privately apologized to Trump on Wednesday over an Ontario-produced ad featuring remarks from the late President Ronald Reagan, who discussed tariffs in a 1987 speech.
The ad, which was posted online and aired during early games of the World Series matchup between the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers, angered Trump and led him to call off US trade talks with Canada.
“I did apologize to the president,” Carney told reporters on Saturday, adding that Trump was “offended” by the ad. “It’s not something I would have done, which is to put in place that advertisement, and so I apologized to him.”
“I’m the one who’s responsible, in my role as prime minister, for the relationship with the president of the United States,” Carney added. “And the federal government is responsible for the foreign relationship with the US government. So things happen. We take the good with the bad, and I apologized to him.”
Carney also said he previously advised Ontario Premier Doug Ford not to move forward with the ad after viewing it. Ford, who eventually pulled the ad, said it was “the best ad that ever ran” and “achieved our goal, to make sure that conversation starts with the American people, and with their elected officials.”
Representatives for Carney, Ford, and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Canadians debate the apology — and the ad — on social media
Many online users who identified as Canadian voiced surprise or dismay that Carney had apologized for the ad, with some saying they had voted for the prime minister in part due to his “elbows up,” tough-on-Trump stance.
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Carney had since toned down that rhetoric amid trade negotiations, saying in August that there was a time and a place for going “elbows up.” Nevertheless, “elbows down” was a popular comment online among critics of Carney’s apology.
Others suggested the apology may have been a necessary overture to get trade talks back on track.
“This is really difficult for me as a Canadian. I don’t think PM Carney should have apologized for an ad that was truthful,” one X user who lists their location as the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island wrote on Saturday. “It wasn’t a false commercial and Reagan didn’t love tariffs,” they added.
Redditors who identified as Canadian also processed the news on the r/Canada forum online, where one post about the apology drew more than 1,200 comments in 8 hours.
“As a Canadian, I’m ashamed of Carney. His mantra during the election was ‘elbows up’. We elected him believing he’s a fighter,” another user on Reddit wrote. “Why should we apologize for an ad that was 100% true?” they added.
Another Reddit user called it “humiliating” in response to the news being posted in the r/facepalm subreddit.
Others suggested running the ad while trade talks were happening might not have been a good idea.
“This is going to be unpopular but maybe the ad was not a great idea while trade talks were going,” one Reddit user with an “Ontario” badge next to his profile said.
The Reddit user added that they felt Carney was doing a good job of “high roading and focusing on helping Canadians with this trade talks” and “we need to focus on minimizing damage and expanding trade options.”
Another Reddit user who identified as Canadian suggested that while Carney’s apology may be tough to stomach for some, it may prove to be a savvy move.
“By apologizing he improved relations without giving up a single thing,” wrote another Reddit user identified as Canadian. “Distasteful as it is, it’s in Canada’s best interest for the PM to be on good terms with Trump.”
In the wake of Trump’s tariffs on Canada and comments earlier this year about wanting to make the country America’s 51st state, some Canadians have told Business Insider they planned to boycott US brands in favor of locally produced consumer goods — and that they had seen a rise in Canadian patriotism amid the trade tensions.
The news of Carney’s apology to Trump came on the day of the final matchup between Canada and the US in Game 7 of the World Series.
