It was most telling to have Poilievre and the premiers step forward to answer the American president’s concerns. Pictured: Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre. Photo Credit: Pierre Poilievre/X.
It has been a revealing week of leadership in Ottawa.
Monday evening President-elect Donald Trump posted on social media that on his first day in office America would impose 25 per cent tariffs on all products from Canada and Mexico as a punitive cost of illegal migration and fentanyl trafficking into the United States. Trump vowed he would maintain the tariffs until both countries fixed their drug and border messes. This is the post:
“As everyone is aware, thousands of people are pouring through Mexico and Canada, bringing Crime and Drugs at levels never seen before. Right now a Caravan coming from Mexico, composed of thousands of people, seems to be unstoppable in its quest to come through our currently Open Border. On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders. This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country! Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long simmering problem. We hereby demand that they use this power, and until such time that they do, it is time for them to pay a very big price!”
Within hours Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called Mar-a-Lago. Canadians heard from Trudeau the next day that, “It was a good call.” In a media scrum outside a cabinet meeting, Trudeau made the observation, “This is a relationship that we know takes a certain amount of working on, and that’s what we’ll do.” When pressed for some details on the government’s plan, Trudeau mentioned hosting a zoom call with premiers and he said, “One of the really important things is that we be all pulling together on this. The Team Canada approach is what works.”
Through the next 72 hours, with repeated calls from the Canadian business community, national media, and his political opponents to share his plan of action, there was little to be seen or heard from Trudeau. Each day he has attended the hour of Question Period to exchange political barbs with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre. However, surprisingly, Trudeau chose to skip Parliament’s Emergency Debate on the tariff issue where he could have taken the opportunity to explain the government’s actions. For much of his time, Trudeau has remained within the confines of his office, out of reach of the media.
In contrast to Trudeau’s unavailability, a number of Canada’s premiers stepped forward to respond directly to the American tariff announcement. As it was, even before Trump posted his statement, Ontario Premier Doug Ford had sent a letter to Ottawa to request a meeting with Trudeau on U.S.-Canada trade. On behalf of all premiers, Ford called for Trudeau to consider a “Team Canada approach” as the premiers were hoping the federal Liberals would include the provinces in strategizing on “trade, secure borders, energy, defence and the strength of our cross-border supply chains.”
When Ford heard of Trump’s statement on Monday night, he immediately went public to state that the proposed tariffs would be “devastating to workers and jobs in both Canada and the U.S.” He called for Trudeau to “call an urgent meeting with all premiers.” Ford added a personal perspective on Trump’s action, “It’s like a family member stabbing you right in the heart,” and he said, “We’re going to do everything we can to make sure that we understand their [the Americans] concerns, address their concerns.”
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith also stepped forward on Monday evening and again on Tuesday to make public statements urging Trudeau to take action. Smith stated, “The incoming U.S. administration has valid concerns related to illegal activities at our shared border. We are calling on the federal government to work with the incoming administration to resolve these issues immediately, thereby avoiding any unnecessary tariffs on Canadian exports to the U.S.”
After Trudeau and premiers’ zoom call on Wednesday evening, Smith stated publicly that Alberta had advanced a number of steps to resolve the difficulties between the two countries. Smith argued for the federal government and provinces to “take immediate steps to crack down heavily on these illegal border activities.” On this point, Smith mentioned Alberta will be initiating patrols of its shared borders with Montana. She called for Canada to comply with its NATO obligations. Smith was most vocal on Alberta’s shared commitment with the U.S. on North American energy security and called on Trudeau to immediately drop the proposed oil and gas production cap which runs counter to the American administration’s energy plans.
Quebec Premier Francois Legault was also vocal through the week, making repeated calls for the federal government to make clear its plan of action to tighten border controls of illegal immigration and drugs. Legault said, “We have to reassure Mr. Trump. We have to do more on the borders. Mr. Trudeau must not try to deny the problem.”
On Wednesday night after the zoom call, Legault called a press conference to express frustration with Trudeau’s lack of clarity, “I clearly asked Mr. Trudeau to table a plan, a detailed plan… I did not get a clear answer, but there is hope, because there was support from other premiers as well to go in this direction… I think now’s not the time to play at whether it’s true or not that our borders are not secure. I think it’s important that a plan be tabled.”
Legault appears to be correct. While Trudeau hosted that zoom call, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum connected with Trump to report back to him about how Mexico has immediately begun stopping migration through the country. Sheinbaum assured Trump that migrants will be halted before making it to the Mexico-U.S. border. On Thursday, Trump responded positively to the Mexicans’ resolve.
From MPs, pundits and media, much has been made of Trump unfairly lumping Canada and Mexico together when criticizing the countries’ border issues. Though the realities found on American’s south and north borders are vastly different in scope, Canada and Mexico migrant and drug crises do pose similar dangers to the American people. Canada is in the Trump administration’s crosshairs because U.S. border services have recorded 1,155 people on various terror watch lists who have been stopped from entering the U.S. from Canada in the last three years (this compares to just 199 on the southern border). Also, American border guards encounter a monthly average of 16,600 “removable noncitizen” (illegal aliens) at the Canadian border – and they have seen the number of migrants caught attempting to sneak across the border in the last three years multiply by a factor of ten.
As for drug seizures at the border of Canada, U.S. officials reported stopping 55,100 pounds of illegal substances in 2023 (the incomplete 2024 figure is 11,600 pounds). According to U.S. statistics, fentanyl is linked to approximately 100,000 deaths annually. Trump is aware of the threat China poses in supplying this deadly drug. He is also aware of the challenges Canada is having in 1) stemming the drug trade from China and 2) cracking down on fentanyl production. Shared data between the countries’ intelligence services show a serious problem in Canada. Blacklock’s Reporter has recently reported on a CSIS memo that identifies “350 organized crime groups actively involved in the domestic illegal fentanyl market.” In another Department of Foreign Affairs memo, the news source reports that, “…Canada is now a source and transit country for fentanyl to some markets.”
On Parliament Hill through the week, Poilievre was addressing the facts surrounding Trump’s concerns. He presented a detailed plan that he called his “Canada First” approach. Poilievre spoke in media scrums and countless interviews, in the House of Commons, and in the parliamentary Emergency Debate.
“President Trump has the right to put his workers and his nation’s security first,” Poilievre observed. And he continued: “I will put Canada’s workers and Canada’s security first. We need a prime minister with the strength and the smarts, the brains and the backbone to stand up for this country.” He often repeats, “I only care about Canada. I want to put our country first.”
The Conservative Leader made public a plan of action in response to the possible U.S. tariffs that included lifting the energy cap for oil and gas, canceling the carbon tax and planned increases to energy taxes, overhauling the immigration system, overhauling Canada’s drug policies, countering the “Buy America First” policies, and strengthening the military.
And in the Emergency Debate, Poilievre ended his address in prime ministerial fashion by quoting a former prime minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier in asserting: “Canada first, Canada last, Canada always”.
Trump is not even in the Oval Office, and still his statements are already separating the wheat from chaff, friends from foes, leaders from followers. In Canada this week, it was most telling to have Poilievre and the premiers step forward to answer the American president’s concerns.
Chris George is an advocate, government relations advisor, and writer/copy editor. As president of a public relations firm established in 1994, Chris provides discreet counsel, tactical advice and management skills to CEOs/Presidents, Boards of Directors and senior executive teams in executing public and government relations campaigns and managing issues. Prior to this PR/GR career, Chris spent seven years on Parliament Hill on staffs of Cabinet Ministers and MPs. He has served in senior campaign positions for electoral and advocacy campaigns at every level of government. Today, Chris resides in Almonte, Ontario where he and his wife manage www.cgacommunications.com. Contact Chris at chrisg.george@gmail.com.
