Canada's premiers are meeting with Trudeau as Trump's tariffs could be days away
Ottawa crafting a border plan to appease Trump's concerns about drugs, migrants
The premiers will gather in Ottawa Wednesday to meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and discuss a looming threat that has the potential to throw the economy into a tailspin: president-elect Donald Trump's promised tariffs on all Canadian goods.
Trump is set to take office on Jan. 20 and then quickly implement his campaign commitment to levy punishing tariffs on imports from some countries, including Canada, to try and prompt a crackdown on illegal drugs and migrants coming into the U.S.
Economists have said the expected 25 per cent tariff would be devastating to the Canadian economy, shaving billions of dollars off of the GDP and putting some crucial industries in jeopardy.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Tuesday "it's not going to be good" if Trump does what he's said he will do.
Ford said as many as 500,000 people in Ontario alone could be out of a job if a broad-based tariff scheme is implemented. The government may have to spend billions of dollars in stimulus to shore up a shaky economy, he said.
Canada's response to the tariff threat will be at the centre of today's first ministers' meeting, which the premiers requested to get a better sense of what Ottawa has planned for the weeks ahead. Most of the 13 premiers will be in the nation's capital, while some will join the conversation virtually.
To appease Trump's demands, Ottawa has drawn up a border security plan that Trudeau is expected to share with the premiers at today's meeting.
Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who has taken the lead on Canada-U.S. matters, showed parts of the border plan to Ford on Tuesday ahead of the larger meeting with other provincial and territorial leaders.
The premier, who is also serving as the chair of the Council of the Federation, told reporters that what he saw was "phenomenal" and called it "a solid, solid plan."
Ottawa is planning to deploy more border and RCMP personnel along the 49th parallel, put more drones and helicopters in the sky over the border and fund the creation of some 80 new K9 units to better search for drugs like fentanyl at land crossings, among other initiatives, LeBlanc said.
If Trump isn't satisfied with that plan and goes ahead with tariffs anyway, Canada is also preparing to fight back with possible retaliatory tariffs on everything from Florida orange juice and Kentucky bourbon to Pennsylvania steel, sources have told CBC News.
LeBlanc said everything is on the table as Canada braces for a trade war that could get ugly.
He has not ruled out stopping the flow of Canadian oil south into the U.S., he said.
"We want to see what the American action is next week, if it comes next week," he said. "I think we need to be ready to deploy all necessary measures."
Premiers make their case to Americans
Ford has said he's willing to withhold Ontario energy exports to the U.S., which could put an estimated 1.5 million American households in a bind given how reliant some states are on the province's electricity.
Since Trump's election in November, many of the premiers have fanned out across the U.S. to try and convince Americans it's a bad idea to take on Canada given the two economies are so intertwined.
A series of ads bankrolled by Ontario have been blanketing the U.S. airwaves for weeks, touting the value of a close Canada-U.S. relationship.
Trump hosted Alberta Premier Danielle Smith at his Mar-a-Lago estate over the weekend.
Smith said they had a "friendly and constructive" conversation and she stressed that her province's vast oil reserves are crucial to North American energy security and the continent's gas prices.
But Smith said she got no indication that Trump is rethinking his plan to slap tariffs on Canadian goods, which she said is motivated by his animosity over the U.S. trade deficit with Canada.
That trade deficit is largely driven by strong U.S. demand for Canadian oil and natural gas, which it buys at a discount relative to world prices for those commodities.
As part of their campaign to neutralize the trade threat, the premiers have had to push back against misleading information propagated by Trump and his surrogates who have misconstrued the bilateral trade deficit data and exaggerated illegal immigrant figures.
They have also had to contend with Trump's rhetoric about trying to annex Canada as the 51st state.
Trudeau, who is a lame duck prime minister after announcing his intention to resign last week amid internal party pressure, will lead Canada through what is expected to be a tumultuous time until the Liberal Party picks its new leader in early March.
In addition to his meeting with the premiers, Trudeau has announced he will convene a cabinet retreat in Quebec next week to continue drawing up some sort of plan for Canada as it faces such a serious economic threat.
"Our government is unwaveringly focused on protecting and defending Canadian interests. With the threat of tariffs from the incoming United States administration, Team Canada will use expanded capabilities to strengthen Canada's relationship with the U.S., protect Canadian investment and jobs and make unequivocally clear the mutually beneficial relationship our two countries share," Trudeau said in a media statement.
Canadian business and labour groups are also mobilizing in the face of the Trump threat.
The Canada-U.S Trade Council (CUSTC) has just launched with a plan to convene regular meetings to share information and ideas for how best to approach the expected tariff war and the subsequent new NAFTA review phase.
The trade council will draw on advice from advisers including Steve Verheul, Canada's former top trade negotiator, cross-border experts like Laura Dawson and past politicos like James Moore and Jean Charest.
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