Liberals try to reassure Canadians they are ready for Trump 2.0

Article content

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada is prepared for a second Donald Trump presidency as questions swirl about how his government plans to handle the Republican president-elect’s incoming agenda. 

From trade tariffs and the war in Ukraine, to defence spending and immigration, cabinet ministers exuded confidence on Wednesday that they are ready to handle whatever another Trump administration may bring. 

Article content

“I want to congratulate Donald on a decisive victory last night,” Trudeau told reporters on his way into his weekly caucus meeting.

“We’ve been preparing for this,” Trudeau said. “We’re looking forward to doing this work and we’re going to make sure that this extraordinary friendship and alliance between Canada and United States continues to be a real benefit to Canadians, but also to people around the world.”

On the campaign trail Trump pitched a 10 per cent tariff on global imports, which would deliver a massive blow to Canadian business. Asked about plans to mitigate that risk, ministers with economic portfolios offered reassurances that they were ready to fight for Canadians and pointed to relationships they have built with those on Trump’s team.

“Let’s be calm,” said Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne, who said he has already been texting with unnamed members of Trump’s team and is receiving responses.

“The work that we’ve done, the work that we’ve done is paying off.”

Even before Tuesday’s U.S presidential election results began rolling in, cabinet ministers said Canada had begun earlier in the year deploying  its “Team Canada” approach to prepare for a potential new administration, connecting with their U.S contacts while Canadian business leaders did the same.

Article content

Article content

“I know that a lot of Canadians are anxious,” Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said Wednesday.

“A lot of Canadians have been anxious this week. A lot of Canadians were anxious throughout the night, and I want to say with utter sincerity and conviction to Canadians that Canada will be absolutely fine.”

The last time Trump was in office Freeland led the government’s efforts in renegotiating a new free trade agreement with the U.S. and Mexico, which comes up for review in 2026. Canada has maintained strong relationships with the Trump team from his first term, Freeland said, saying that she spoke to Robert Lighthizer, Trump’s former trade representative, a few times on Tuesday.

“Our partnership in no way undercuts American workers, and I know that that is at the heart of the concerns of president Trump and his team, because that is at the heart of deal, our new NAFTA deal,” she told reporters Wednesday morning.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh called on Canadian leaders to put aside their differences to come together and show unity in standing up for Canadian interests, which he believes Trump’s victory will have “serious impacts on.”

Article content

“We have to protect Canadian jobs. We have to prepare for the impacts of potential tariffs and what that would mean for our economy, for manufacturing, for jobs in Canada.

“We need to be very united to say, whatever our differences are when it comes to Canadian interests and Canadian jobs, we’re all going to work together to defend Canada.”

Opposition Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre released a combative statement congratulating Trump, suggesting other Canadian leaders should not hold their breath waiting for his collaboration.

“My mission: save our jobs,” Poilievre said in a post on X. 

“The U.S. has already taken half a trillion dollars of investment and jobs from Canada under 9 years of Trudeau, and our people cannot afford homes and food. Yesterday’s result confirms we must cancel Trudeau’s plan to quadruple the carbon tax and hike other taxes, which would push hundreds of thousands more jobs south where President Trump will be cutting taxes even further.”

Poilievre spent Wednesday in question period criticizing Trudeau for advancing policies that he says sends Canadian jobs that Trump wants across the border, a claim Trudeau rebuffed.

Article content

Canadians must go to the polls no later than October 2025. Trailing in the public opinion, Trudeau has been faced with questions from his own caucus about whether he is the best candidate to face Poilievre as the Liberals try to seek a fourth term and Canadians appear ready for change.

Sean Casey, a Liberal MP who has called on Trudeau to step aside, said he believes Trump’s election “absolutely” gives the prime minister a chance to try to soothe some of his critics’ concerns.

“He clearly knows what we’re in for and has already started the ground work to be able to deal with it,” said Casey.

Trudeau will also have to decide how to replace four departing ministers from his cabinet, with the U.S. election results now playing a potential factor in how he will reshuffle his cabinet to prepare for a new chapter in Canada-U.S. relations.

The role the U.S. will play when it comes to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the war in Gaza also remain top of mind, with Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly saying she had spoken to her Ukrainian counterpart as of Wednesday morning.

“What we know is we all want peace and stability,” Joly said, but declined to say whether Trump’s win now makes resolving those conflicts harder.

Article content

The Liberal government is also working on its own timeline to boost its defence spending to reach its two per cent NATO target, said Joly, which has been a long standing irritant of Trump’s from countries around the world.

National Post
staylor@postmedia.com

Get more deep-dive National Post political coverage and analysis in your inbox with the Political Hack newsletter, where Ottawa bureau chief Stuart Thomson and political analyst Tasha Kheiriddin get at what’s really going on behind the scenes on Parliament Hill every Wednesday and Friday, exclusively for subscribers. Sign up here.

Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our politics newsletter, First Reading, here.

Article content