Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is meeting with provincial and territorial premiers Wednesday to talk Canada-U.S. relations, marking their first such huddle since Trudeau’s dinner at incoming U.S. president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
The premiers will meet virtually and discuss a plan to tackle Trump’s threat to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian imports.
“We have to have a strategy that serves Canadians. There’s no room for freelancing here,” said Liberal MP Yasir Naqvi. “That’s why I think the meeting that’s happening today is extremely important.”
He was one of a handful of Liberal MPs to carefully comment outside of the party’s Wednesday caucus meeting.
“We need a co-ordinated, coherent approach to the challenge that is Donald Trump,” said John MacKay. “United we stand, divided we fall.”
The first ministers’ meeting comes just a day after Trump launched more jibes at Trudeau on social media by calling him governor of “the great state of Canada” — a nod to his ribbing that he might just have Canada join the U.S. as its 51st state.
Lawmakers are days away from starting an extended winter holiday break, but when MPs return to Parliament in January, it will be after the presidential inauguration — making Trump’s social media taunts and threats all the more serious.
Immigration Minister Marc Miller said in the face of that, the government needs to strike the right tone.
“This is the first inning. Yeah, sure, there’s some goofy stuff going on, there’s some shenanigans, but we have to be serious about this. Canadians expect their government to be serious about the border, about making sure Canadians are safe and secure,” he said.
“We can’t be arguing against ourselves and at cross -purposes, I think that’s really important,” he added. “Because anything the U.S. does impacts Canada so severely, this isn’t the time for partisanship.”
Canada has vowed to beef up border security in the face of Trump’s threats, despite a lack of evidence for his claims about illicit fentanyl pouring into the U.S. from Canada.
Liberal MP Sean Casey said it’s not a problem if it appears Canada is bending to Trump’s pressure.
“Whether it looks like we’re caving to his demands is completely irrelevant,” he said as he also headed into the caucus meeting. “If his demands are aligned with the best interest of Canada, the perception of the relationship doesn’t matter.”
Wednesday’s high-level meeting also comes days before Ontario Premier Doug Ford hosts the fall premiers’ meeting in Mississauga, which lasts Sunday through Monday.
