Trudeau tells business leaders at economic summit Trump’s 51st state threat ‘is a real thing’
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told business leaders at the Canada-U.S. Economic Summit in Toronto that U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to annex Canada “is a real thing.”
“Mr. Trump has it in mind that the easiest way to do it is absorbing our country and it is a real thing. In my conversations with him on…,” Trudeau said, before the microphone cut out.
The prime minister made the remarks to business leaders after delivering an opening address to the summit Friday morning outlining the key issues facing the country when it comes Canada’s trading relationship with the U.S.
After the opening address, media were ushered out of the room, when a microphone that was left on picked up on what was only meant to be heard behind closed doors.
Watch | Trudeau says Trump’s comments about absorbing Canada are serious:
Following his public remarks at the Canada-U.S. Economic Summit, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told business and labour leaders that U.S. President Donald Trump’s comments about making Canada the 51st state are ‘a real thing.’ Trudeau’s comments were heard over the loudspeakers.
Asked about the comments, Labour Minister and government House Leader Steven MacKinnon said Canada may have different regions and political difference, but the country “is united on one thing: its pride in being Canadian.”
“Canada is free, Canada is sovereign, Canada will choose its own destiny, thank you very much. But Canada is forever — so Canada will make its choices,” he said.
“We will always, always, always, stand up for this country, for its people and for the ability to make our choices for ourselves.”
In Trudeau’s opening address to the summit, he said Canada needs both a tactical response to Trump’s tariff threats in the short term, as well as a strategy for dealing with a less co-operative United States in the long term.
“We are in a moment, a moment that we have to meet for Canadians, to see not just how we get through this particular challenge over the next 30 days or few months, but how we get through and thrive and grow stronger over the next four years, and into what may be a more challenging long-term political situation with the United States,” Trudeau said.
In order to have success on both of those fronts, Trudeau said that attendees of the summit will be discussing how to do three key things: deliver an internal free-trade deal, ensure Canada-U.S. trade works for both countries and ensuring Canada properly leverages the trade deals it already has with partners in Europe and the Pacific Rim.
After a tense weekend, Trump announced Monday afternoon he was shelving his promise to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods for at least a month, with Canada offering a plan to address Trump’s border security and crime concerns.
Trudeau said earlier this week that despite that reprieve, concerns remain and the Canada-U.S. Economic Summit will “find ways to galvanize our economy, create more jobs and bigger paycheques, make it easier to build and trade within our borders and diversify export markets.”
Interprovincial trade
Business leaders in Canada have long complained that it’s easier to do business with other countries than other provinces, largely due to restrictions on the sale of alcohol, technical barriers such as vehicle weight standards and regulatory barriers such as licensing and paperwork requirements.
The prime minister said Friday that all of Canada’s premiers are united in wanting to drop internal trade barriers that Trudeau says “just don’t make sense,” and now the timing is right to get it done.
“We have to move forward on it,” Trudeau said Friday. “This is one of those moments and opportunities where we actually can. There’s a window open because of the context we’re in, we have to jump through it.”
To get a truly internal free trade agreement, Trudeau said, will require governments and business leaders “to step up and push hard and make sure that in this moment we actually move forward on free trade within Canada.”
Trading from a ‘position of strength’
Internal Trade Minister Anita Anand was asked during a news conference on Wednesday if “interprovincial trade barriers [could] be dealt with, wiped away in 30 days?”
“The short answer to your question is yes,” she responded.
Trudeau also said that Canadians have to accept that our proximity to the U.S. means that we are going to be trading north and south for many years to come.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is meeting with Canadian business and labour leaders Friday to discuss attracting investment, improving interprovincial trade and responding to the ongoing tariff threat from the U.S. Goldy Hyder, president and CEO of the Business Council of Canada, discusses what he’s hoping for going into the summit.
“We are always going to both benefit and be challenged by trade with the United States,” he said. “Its always going to be a big chunk of our economy.”
Trudeau said that to succeed, Canada needs to be “deliberate and strategic” about how it forges business partnerships with the U.S. when it comes to the trade in critical minerals and energy to ensure both countries win.
“These are things that we can deliberately look at, that we are looking at,” Trudeau said. “We’re always going to be trading with the United States, can we make sure we’re doing it from a position of strength?”
- This Sunday, Cross Country Checkup is asking: What grade are you giving Justin Trudeau on Trump’s tariff threat? How will it affect your vote? Leave your question here and we may read it on the Feb. 9 show.
Trudeau said Canada also has to make sure it is “taking advantage of the incredible trade deals” the country has signed with the European Union (EU), Pacific Rim countries and the United Kingdom.
“Its not enough to just sign a trade deal, we have to then follow up on it with trade missions, with actual investments, with partnerships,” Trudeau said.
The prime minister said the summit will try to tackle how Canada can get more out of its free trade deal with the EU, how it can open new markets and diversify supply chains.
“There is a moment right now that we should be talking about,” he said.
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