By Barry Ellsworth
TRENTON, Canada (AA) - Ontario Premier Doug Ford called for an apology Wednesday after the US ambassador to Canada unleashed a torrent of profanity at a prestigious event in Ottawa.
Ford said Pete Hoekstra’s outburst in front of about 200 people Monday at the annual Canadian American Business Council gala at the National Gallery of Canada was “unacceptable” and “unbecoming of an ambassador.”
The tirade was apparently sparked by Ontario’s anti-tariff ad run on the weekend on American television networks. The ad, which cost CAN$75 million, had 11.4 billion impressions over the past week through earned media such as news coverage and social media.
An ad impression is the number of times an advertisement is shown to users, regardless of whether they click on it.
Hoekstra’s ire was directed at David Paterson, Ontario’s trade representative in Washington, who was attending the gala.
US President Donald Trump was miffed by the ad and cancelled trade talks with Canada.
Hoekstra hurled “insults” and “swore” at Paterson, who remained calm though the tirade, CP 24 reported.
The Canadian American Business Council gala is an annual event attended by top business leaders and politicians. Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand and Dominic LeBlanc, the minister responsible for Canada-US trade, were also at the event.
News of the confrontation raced through high-powered business and political circles in Ottawa and Washington, the CBC reported, adding that the F-word was used by Hoekstra in his loud tirade.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Ford defended Paterson and said Hoekstra needs to apologize for the outburst.
“Dave is my champion,” the premier said in a YouTube video. “People get hot. They get pretty heated. I get heated sometimes, but you just gotta call the guy (Paterson) up and bury the hatchet.”
“Call the guy up and apologize.”