December 12:
Canadian lawmakers are taking notice of the imminent threat after Donald Trump's recent mockery of Justin Trudeau. Consultations with the provincial and territorial premiers have commenced in a serious manner. A day after US President-elect Donald Trump repeated his joke of addressing Trudeau as "governor" of the "51st State," the Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, together with a few members of his Cabinet, had a "long and meaningful" interaction with Premiers. Trudeau has met with premiers twice since last month, when the then-president of the United States threatened to impose heavy tariffs on Canada. By the way, this is the first gathering between the two leaders since Trump and Justin Trudeau had dinner at Mar-a-Lago.
After the discussion, Ontario Premier Ford said that Ottawa's strategy is a 'good start,' and that 'Canada needs to be ready to fight.' He also threatened to stop energy supply to the US if Donald Trump insisted on his "tariffs" threat.
The US President-elect made it clear in a statement that he would impose 25% tariffs on goods entering the US from Canada and Mexico on January 20th, his first day back in office, unless both nations end what he referred to as a "invasion" of drugs, particularly Fentanyl, and "all Illegal Aliens" entering the US.
At Queen's Park, Premiers Doug Ford of Ontario and Chrystia Freeland of Canada's federal finance ministry will compile a list of potential goods on which Canada and Ontario may apply retaliatory tariffs, according to Premier Ford, who was one of several who made ideas.
No matter how far this goes, we will not stop until we reach the end. We will not rest until we have cut off their power, traveled to Michigan, New York, and Wisconsin. "As the largest province in Canada, my number one responsibility is to ensure the safety of my fellow citizens, including Ontarians and Canadians overall. I sincerely hope this does not come to pass," Ford stated.
As we go ahead, we should watch what occurs. "However, we will employ all available means, including the possibility of reducing the amount of energy we send down there," he emphasized.
Even though the US President-elect has not provided any proof of illegal fentanyl entering the US from Canada, Canada has nonetheless pledged to increase border security.
The US and Canada would face significant challenges, according to Ford, if tariffs were imposed on Canadian exports. In response to a question regarding the rationale for his threats of retaliatory tariffs, he stated that Trump's stated intention to impose tariffs is not mere rhetoric.
I think he is being a little more aggressive than he was in the past, and I say this respectfully to the President, he is a different type of cat, to say the least, Ford said. Perhaps I'm just a peculiar feline, but I've never witnessed anything like this level of plain, unflinching seriousness. When we saw him before, he did not seem this way. On top of that, it doesn't benefit either side of the border.
The province will back federal efforts to fortify the border in response to the tariff threat, he said, adding that he had requested more officers for the Canada Border Services Agency and the RCMP from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. He announced that the federal government is willing to implement his requests for improved communication between police agencies, additional drones at the border, and more patrol dogs, as well as "more boots on the ground" in Ontario.
Ford elaborated by saying that Ontario is keen on keeping its energy exports to the United States.
According to reports, the prime minister discussed governmental plans to address Trump's border worries during the virtual meeting. The RCMP and other law enforcement agencies will work together more closely, and there will be stricter regulations on the chemical ingredients used to manufacture fentanyl.
Details of the government plans will be made public in the coming days, remarked Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who was at the meetings with the Premiers and the dinner with Trump. "We are going to incorporate many of the positive suggestions that the premiers made into finalizing our border plan and then, obviously, a priority will be to share details of this plan with the incoming Trump administration and with Canadians," he told the media following the meeting.
During a discussion with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on US-Canada ties ahead of president-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House, he went on to say that the premiers replied positively to the federal government's border plan and gave suggestions on collaboration.
He mentioned that in the past, the government has considered purchasing extra equipment, including as drones and helicopters, to fortify the border.
According to Chrystia Freeland, Canada's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, provincial premiers have taken the initiative to determine which Canadian exports could be subject to impending US tariffs. I learnt not to get ahead of ourselves and never to answer hypothetical questions during the NAFTA discussions. After the meeting, she stated, "I think we also learned that Canada needs to hope for the best and prepare for the worst."
