Social media posts claim Canada could “leave US cities in the dark” if a Canada–U.S. trade dispute escalates further, including by cutting electricity supply to the United States. The speculation follows comments from Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who tells The Associated Press that “everything is on the table” if the dispute worsens.
However, experts cited across the reports say the scenario is unlikely and would not result in sudden, widespread blackouts in the U.S. One point of context is that Canada has already implemented about $20 billion in retaliatory tariffs on American goods, without any accompanying move to restrict electricity. The coverage frames the viral claim as exaggerated compared with what Canadian officials can practically or reliably carry out.
Overall, the outlets focus on assessing the credibility of the online allegation. While they reference the possibility raised by Ford, they converge on the conclusion that Canada would not be able to abruptly shut off power to cause immediate large-scale outages in US cities as part of the trade response.
