Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc sent a video describing Canada’s border security efforts to the man U.S. President Donald Trump has chosen to oversee his tariff agenda — part of Canada’s pitch to avoid devastating duties that could come as soon as Saturday.
LeBlanc’s office confirmed the three-minute video was texted to Howard Lutnick Wednesday evening after the billionaire financier’s Senate hearing on his nomination to lead the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Lutnick told senators Wednesday that Trump’s threatened 25 per cent across-the-board duties would be an emergency measure to achieve border security — and could be followed by more tariffs in the future.
Lutnick said he believes Canada and Mexico are “acting swiftly” on border security and “and if they execute it, there will be no tariff and if they don’t, then there will be.”
LeBlanc met Lutnick at Mar-a-Lago late last year after he and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau travelled there for a dinner with Trump a few days after the president made his initial tariff threat.
LeBlanc’s office said the video was sent along with a “personal message” to contextualize the video, in relation to Canada’s work to shore up the border. The spokesperson said the message was not part of any official communication plan.
The minister will meet with Lutnick but not until after his nomination is confirmed.
LeBlanc’s outreach comes as Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly is in Washington, D.C. connecting with American officials and lawmakers. On Thursday, she is set to meet Republican senators Pete Ricketts and Lisa Murkowski and Democrat senators Tim Kaine and Maria Cantwell.
Public Safety Minister David McGuinty and Immigration Minister Marc Miller were travelling to Washington Thursday for meetings with various senators and members of Trump’s team.
The three ministers are also set to meet with Trump’s border czar Tom Homan on Friday afternoon.
Trump initially claimed his tariff threat was in response to what he called the failure by Canada and Mexico to curb the illegal flow of people and drugs across the border.
Trump didn’t implement the duties on his first day back in office, as he’d vowed to do, but later said they’d hit both countries on Feb. 1.
The amount of drugs and people crossing Canada’s border illegally is miniscule compared to the traffic over the U.S.-Mexico border. Still, Canada moved rapidly to appease Trump’s concerns with a $1.3-billion border security plan.
There are additional helicopters and drones in the sky above the border and officers with canine units on the ground. Provincial governments have also boosted border resources.
In response to questions about a report in the Globe and Mail that said the federal government sent packages of video clips to Trump and his team, McGuinty said sharing video with the U.S. is not uncommon.
“It is likely to help show the investments that we’re making and that they’re working,” McGuinty told reporters Wednesday.
Canadian officials are likely well aware that the president has an affinity for images and videos. It was reported during the first Trump administration that the president preferred his briefings short and full of photos, videos and graphics.
During his first administration and throughout his campaign last year, Trump often repeated lines from conservative Fox News hosts. His new Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth is a former Fox News personality.
Premiers have already taken advantage of the president’s viewing habits. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Ontario Premier Doug Ford have made numerous appearances on Fox programs in an attempt to talk Trump out of hammering Canada with tariffs.
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said Canada has seen some success in making its case in direct conversations with state and federal lawmakers.
“But there’s one person, in particular, whose mind we need to have land in a favourable direction for Canada,” Kinew said, alluding to Trump without saying his name.
Kinew, a former broadcaster himself, said there’s value in selling Canada’s border security plan through easily consumable images and videos.
“If you see me or (Saskatchewan Premier) Scott Moe standing along a border with conservation officers, and if there’s a Blackhawk helicopter landing somewhere near Emerson playing on TV, I think that that helps strongly to make the case with the United States of America that we are taking border security seriously,” he said.
