Northern port gives Manitoba card to play in potential Canada-U.S. trade spat, premier says

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew says the province's northern port could become a key asset amid potential Canada-U.S. trade tensions.

Manitoba is technically a maritime province, and the northern town of Churchill is connected to rail lines and has a deepsea port — things that could help ensure Arctic sovereignty and national security, Kinew said at a Tuesday news conference in Brandon, where he was attending the Manitoba Ag Days farm show and exhibition.

Churchill also has "huge" opportunities when it comes to mining, agriculture and energy, said Kinew.

Canadian leaders have made a number of trips in recent months to advocate against 25 per cent tariffs proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, and Kinew says a group of premiers will head to Washington on Feb. 12 to continue those efforts.

"If there's a Trump tariff tax, that's going to raise prices on consumers in the States, and I don't think anyone wants that."

He said he has been talking with leaders in North and South Dakota about the implications of potential tariffs. Politicians from both states have influence in Trump's new administration and recognize the importance of cross-border agricultural trade, said Kinew.

Trump, who was inaugurated as the 47th president of the United States on Monday, suggested upon his return to the Oval Office that he could still hit Canada with tariffs as early as next month.

Kinew said his hope is to preserve the Manitoba-U.S. trade relationship.

"If things get to a more challenging position, we have a series of contingency plans in place to support your jobs and the Manitoba economy."

David Peters, who travelled to the Ag Days show in Brandon from Ontario, said there is a general sense of uncertainty across all business sectors, but that farmers are resilient.

"I'm sure we'll make it through. I just … wish we had some leadership in place to take us through this," he said.

New agricultural service centres

Kinew also announced on Tuesday that two new Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation offices are set to open in the province this year.

The centres provide farmers access to things like AgriInsurance — a federal-provincial cost-shared agricultural insurance program — hail insurance, agricultural loans and other programs, the province said in a Tuesday news release.

The two centres will open in Shoal Lake and Virden to address a lack of service centres in western Manitoba, Kinew said.

"I think the reality here is that this is about listening to our own needs here, and strengthening our own economy here at home," he said.

Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshyn said the new centres will serve about 1,600 clients of the Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation — a Crown corporation that offers a range of financial services and risk management programs, as well as administering emergency assistance programs.

The new centres mean about 94 per cent of the corporation's clients will be within an hour's drive from a service centre, up from 83 per cent, said Kostyshyn.

Some agricultural organizations asked the province to open the new service centres after the former Progressive Conservative government closed 21 agricultural offices in 2021, Kinew said.

"We are spending a ton of time strengthening the trade relationship with the United States of America, but there are many, many people across the province who will be quick to put up their hands and say, 'We've been pushing for these MASC centre offices to be reopened.'"

The two centres are scheduled to open by the end of summer, said Kostyshyn.