Ford Pitches Toronto for Defence Bank Amid Quebec Accusations

Ontario Premier Doug Ford pitched Toronto as the ideal host for Canada's new Defence, Security and Resilience Bank on Tuesday, while rejecting attacks on competing bids from Montreal and Vancouver. The remarks came amid accusations from Quebec politicians that Toronto backers are undermining Montreal's candidacy by invoking the threat of a provincial sovereignty referendum.

Canada has been selected to host the headquarters of the DSRB, which will provide financing for defence projects among NATO members and allies. The bank is projected to create more than 3,000 jobs. Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver are vying for the site, with the final decision resting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Quebec officials last week described Toronto's tactics as a fear campaign. A report in the French-language newspaper La Presse indicated that Toronto promoters have privately highlighted the risk of another Quebec referendum to portray Montreal as unstable. Parti Québécois MNA Pascal Paradis, whose party leads polls ahead of the province's election in five months and has pledged a referendum if victorious, called for an end to such tactics. "We must put aside this fear campaign, these fear...