Here in Hamilton, we make steel and we manufacture products. We build homes, infrastructure and communities. And when economic uncertainty arrives, as it has many times throughout our history, Hamilton has proven remarkably resilient. And that resilience may be tested again.
The dramatic escalation of the Canada-U.S. trade dispute over the past several days is understandably creating anxiety for Canadians. Here in Hamilton, those concerns are particularly real. We are a manufacturing city in a province whose economy is deeply integrated with the United States. Behind every discussion about tariffs, trade negotiations and economic retaliation are real people wondering what all of this means for their job, their mortgage and their family.
We should acknowledge that uncertainty rather than minimize it. As Premier Doug Ford said during a press conference in Hamilton this week, what comes next “will not be easy.” But difficult periods also require Canadians to pull together. Whatever our politics, this is a moment for a Team Canada approach: defending Canadian workers and businesses while continuing to invest in ourselves and strengthen the economy here at home.
Hamilton has some important advantages. We have a remarkably diverse economy spanning advanced manufacturing, health care, education, construction, technology, transportation and logistics. We have major institutions, skilled tradespeople, entrepreneurs and generations of experience adapting to economic change. Hamilton has reinvented itself before, and I have every confidence that we will continue doing so.
Our local homebuilding industry is an important part of that story. New home construction is about as local an industry as you can get. You cannot pick up a subdivision in Hamilton and export its construction to Mexico, China or the United States. The homes we build here are manufactured and assembled right here in our communities, on Hamilton construction sites, by Ontario workers.
Many of our homebuilders are themselves locally based, multi-generational family businesses. They employ local staff, engineers, architects, planners and skilled trades. They purchase Ontario lumber. The aggregate, concrete and brick going into our homes comes overwhelmingly from Ontario suppliers, including quarries and manufacturers in Hamilton, Halton, Cambridge and Brampton. Windows, roofing products, HVAC and countless other components are also manufactured locally.
Every new home therefore represents much more than a place for a family to live. It represents a supply chain of Ontario jobs and businesses. That made the location of Premier Ford’s announcement on Monday particularly fitting.
The Premier spoke about protecting Ontario workers and responding to the escalating trade dispute from a Marz Homes construction site in Hamilton. Marz Homes is a third-generation Hamilton family business and a member of the West End Home Builders’ Association. Its Director of Operations, Dani Gabriele, currently serves as Chair of our Association.
Behind the podium wasn’t a government backdrop or a boardroom. It was a construction site, with members of our local Hamilton workforce quite literally standing behind the Premier. “For me, the image captured something important about Hamilton.
The months ahead may bring difficult decisions and economic challenges. We cannot know today exactly how this trade dispute will unfold, and governments at all levels will need to remain focused on protecting workers, attracting investment and keeping our economy competitive. But Canadians can also choose to have confidence in ourselves.
One of the best responses to economic uncertainty is to keep building: building homes, building infrastructure, building businesses and building communities. When we build a new home in Hamilton, the investment stays remarkably close to home, supporting local workers, local suppliers and local families.
Hamilton has always been a city of builders. At a moment when Canada needs that spirit more than ever, we should keep building.
