Trudeau set to meet with Canadian premiers amid Trump tariff threat | Globalnews.ca

Canada’s premiers will meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau again to discuss President-elect Donald Trump and the threat of massive tariffs on provincial exports as his inauguration draws closer.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s office said on Tuesday that a virtual meeting of the country’s premiers would take place with Trudeau on Wednesday afternoon.

Ford said the federal government promised to present a plan to the premiers for their approach to negotiations with Trump and his officials.

“They’re working hard,” the premier said of his federal counterparts in a brief scrum with reporters on Tuesday morning.

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Ontario preparing for tariff battle with Trump

“We’re going to work hand-in-hand with them all the premiers — and it’s going to be a Team Canada approach.”

The Prime Minister’s Office also confirmed the 4 p.m. meeting is planned.

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Ahead of the meeting, Trump appeared to poke fun again at Trudeau in a post on social media, calling him the “governor” of the “Great State of Canada.”

It’s set to be the second meeting between Trudeau and provincial leaders in a matter of weeks. The flurry of intergovernmental activity was sparked when Trump announced he planned to impose 25 per cent tariffs on both Canada and Mexico, claiming both borders were responsible for drugs and illegal immigration in the U.S.

Premiers, including Ford, have appeared to accept some of Trump’s claims, particularly about fentanyl at the Canadian border and pushed for Trudeau to ramp up security. They’ve asked for more policing at the U.S.-Canada border and offered local resources if needed.

Ahead of the last meeting, Premier Ford said he wasn’t convinced the federal government yet had a plan to deal with the border.

“I’ve never heard anything about a strategy personally — maybe they do (have one), I don’t believe they do,” he said. “It’s not a problem if they don’t, let’s work together, let’s get all of the police services across the country to work hand-in-hand.”

The last meeting came days before Trudeau flew down to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence for a meeting the president-elect called “very productive.” At the meeting, sources told Global News that the prime minister promised to take action on the border, including purchasing new helicopters for the RCMP to patrol.

Ford said Tuesday that he hopes the plan he is expecting Trudeau to present will include strengthening border security, an issue Trump highlighted in his initial tariff threat, and meeting a NATO commitment of spending two per cent of GDP on defence.

Ontario, for its part, is also rolling out an advertising campaign worth tens of millions of dollars targeting Trump and voters in key U.S. states bordering Ontario.

— with files from The Canadian Press and Global News’ Mercedes Stephenson

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