Trudeau, prime ministers to meet after Trump’s tariff threat

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OTTAWA — Unity between provinces and the federal government is critical in the face of the serious challenge posed by the threat of massive new import tariffs from the Deputy Prime Minister, Canada’s closest trading partner Chrystia Freeland He said following an emergency first ministers’ meeting on Wednesday.

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Prime Ministers met with the Prime Minister virtually on Wednesday Justin TrudeauFreeland with Minister of Public Safety Dominic LeBlanc and RCMP Deputy Commissioner Mark Flynn. The meeting took place just 48 hours after the election of the US president-elect Donald Trump he said he would impose punitive new taxes On all Canadian and Mexican imports the day he was sworn into office in January.

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Trump has said he will keep the tariffs in place until both countries take action to stop the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs into the United States.

“I don’t want to underestimate for a moment the seriousness of the challenge we face right now,” Freeland told reporters on Parliament Hill shortly after the meeting ended.

He said Canadians need to trust that although Canada depends on the United States, “the United States also depends on us.”

The way to successfully meet the challenge, he said, is to present a united front, “especially when it comes to our discussions with our American neighbors.”

“This is a moment where we really shouldn’t be fighting among ourselves,” Freeland said.

He said he felt there was agreement around the table that it was time for “everyone to play for Team Canada,” but that unity was already being tested as Freeland spoke.

Premier Doug Ford, who chairs the council of premiers make a statement After the meeting, he accused the federal government of being short-sighted in the face of Trump’s threat. He said Ontario has been pushing Ottawa for months “to demonstrate that Canada understands, cares and is responsive to the security and economic concerns of the United States.”

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Ford, who attended the meeting from Toronto, said, “I emphasized at tonight’s meeting that the federal government was slow to react and took a step back.”

“I expressed my hope that tonight’s meeting would be the beginning of a more proactive approach by the federal government; This includes showing that it takes security of our border seriously by cracking down on illegal border crossings and stopping weapons and illegal and unlawful attacks. Illegal drugs like fentanyl or risk the economic chaos of Trump tariffs.

Earlier in the day, Ford said there were not enough funds to properly police the border.

Ford said he met with officials from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Canada Border Services Agency and Ontario Provincial Police before the meeting.

LeBlanc, whose portfolio includes the Canada Border Services Agency, said the RCMP holds weekly meetings with American law enforcement agencies, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Drug Enforcement Agency.

LeBlanc said talks are ongoing about additional resources for the border and he hopes no party in the Legislature will block any spending bill for those resources.

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LeBlanc was referring to the ongoing deadlock in the House of Commons as the Conservatives blocked debate on most legislation until the Liberals produced unredacted documents about allegations of misspending in a now-defunct federal green technology fund.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said he discussed strengthening federal investment in the RCMP in Manitoba and strengthening law enforcement in general during the meeting.

“The point I made to the prime minister and premiers on the call is: Listen, Manitobans have been talking about drugs being a problem in our communities for a long time. This goes back many years,” Kinew said.

“So what would be the downside of us investing in law enforcement and cracking down on drug trafficking here at a time when that message might be well received in the United States?”

Quebec Premier Francois Legault said he asked Trudeau for a plan to secure the borders, but left the meeting without getting a “clear answer.”

“I have publicly asked Mr. Trudeau to present a detailed plan to better secure the borders to avoid Mr. Trump’s 25 per cent tariff,” he said. “I didn’t get a clear answer, but we hope (to do so) because there was support from other prime ministers,” he said.

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He added: “Is it true or not that our borders are not secure?” I don’t think this is the time to play the question.’

In the statement made after the meeting, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith He called on the federal government and states bordering the United States to “take immediate steps to seriously crack down on these illegal border activities.”

“I made that very clear to the prime minister and also stated that Alberta will act urgently and decisively to patrol our shared border with Montana, with further details on this to be released soon.”

The prime ministers had requested a meeting on Monday before Trump announced his tariff threat.

University of Calgary economics professor Trevor Tombe wrote a study this fall. Canadian Chamber of Commerce We examine what this could cost Canada. This week, after researching the 25 percent tariff figures, he shared on social media that it would lead to a recession.

Tombe said Canada’s economy will shrink by 2.6 per cent next year, or about $2,000 per capita.

Freeland said that while Canada is dependent on the United States, the opposite is also true. Americans are heavily dependent on Canada for oil, electricity, critical minerals and metals, he said.

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“When it comes to the economic relationship, we talked about the fact that trade between Canada and the United States is balanced and mutually beneficial,” Freeland said of the meeting. “Canada is the largest market for the United States, much larger than China, Japan, the United Kingdom and France combined.”

Trump promises to cut America’s energy bills in half within 18 months; This could become even more difficult if a 25 percent premium is added to Canadian oil imports. In 2023, Canadian oil accounted for almost two-thirds of total U.S. oil imports and nearly one-fifth of U.S. oil supply.

With files from Morgan Lowrie in Montreal, Brenna Owen in Vancouver, Allison Jones in Toronto and Steve Lambert in Winnipeg

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