OTTAWA (Reuters) - Ontario's legislature will be dissolved on Tuesday and the most populous Canadian province will vote on Feb. 27 to elect its next government, Premier Doug Ford's office said. Ford said last week he would call an early election, citing the need for a strong mandate to fight tariffs threatened by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Ontario voters are set to head to the polls in a rare winter election. Premier Doug Ford has already been framing the snap election, coming right before an anticipated federal vote, as necessary for a strong mandate in order to best represent Ontario’s interests on the national and world stage.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has officially set a provincial election in motion for Feb. 27, more than a year before the next fixed election date.

The leader of Canada's most populous province of Ontario said Friday he will be calling an election next week because he needs a mandate to fight U.S. President Donald Trump's threatened tariffs. Conservative Premier Doug Ford said he will call an early election next Wednesday.

Doug Ford, Ontario’s Conservative leader, has recently said that President Trump was “going to try to devastate our country” with a plan to impose tariffs on Canadian exports.

The Ontario premier says he's ready for a street fight if Trump makes good on threats of a trade war with Canada

Ontario’s take-no-prisoners Premier Doug Ford is threatening to ban U.S. alcohol in stores and cut power to American homes and businesses close to the border in his war on Donald Trump’s threatened tariffs.

The leader of Ontario said he will be calling an election next week because he needs a mandate to fight Trump's threatened tariffs.

Trump pledged in his inaugural address that tariffs would be coming in a speech in which he promised a golden era for America. He later said Canada and Mexico could be hit with the tariffs as soon as Feb. 1, though he signed an executive order requesting a report coordinated by the Secretary of Commerce by April. 1.

Due to Trump’s tariffs, Canada cannot afford to have the focus of one of its key provincial leaders diverted into trying to win an unnecessary provincial election.

The start of Donald Trump's second term as president of the United States was a driving force behind Ontario Premier Doug Ford's decision to call an early election, a member of the premier's cabinet says.

By: Jennifer Bieman Ontario Premier Doug Ford is sending voters to the polls 15 months early, with a snap election he says is needed to deal with the threat posed to Ontario’s economy by U.S. President Donald Trump and his avowed tariffs on Canadian exports.