Doug Ford, the Ontario Premier, was moments from taking the stage at a trade conference in Toronto when organisers announced an unexpected guest.
Beaming in from Washington, DC, Howard Lutnick, Donald Trump’s commerce secretary, had joined to speak on the escalating trade rift between the US and Canada.
Mr Lutnick’s tone, those present say, was aggressive and his message clear; automotive manufacturing, the pride of Ontario, was coming back to America.
