Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says U.S. President Donald Trump isn’t joking – he believes Trump’s threat to make Canada the 51st state is a “real thing,” in part due to his desire to gain access to Canada’s critical minerals, according to a source who heard the behind-closed-doors comment at a summit in Toronto on Friday.
Trudeau made the remarks before a crowd of business and trade leaders who were brought together to discuss how to bolster Canada’s economy in the face of Trump’s ongoing tariff threat. The comments were made after media had been asked to leave the room.
In recent months, Trump has repeatedly proposed Canada could avoid tariffs if it agreed to join the U.S. as the 51st state. Trump has also referred to the prime minister as ‘Governor Trudeau’ on social media.
Asked about Trudeau’s remarks in an interview with CTV’s Question Period airing Sunday, Innovation, Science and Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne said, “Canada is a proud nation” and insisted “this is not going to happen.”
“Canadians are proud and we will always stand up for Canada. Canada’s sovereignty is not in question whatsoever,” Champagne told host Vassy Kapelos.
Employment Minister and Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon echoed that sentiment while speaking to reporters at the summit.
“I would be reflecting the spirit of in the room, more importantly, the spirit across this country,” MacKinnon said on Friday. “Canada is free. Canada is sovereign. Canada will choose its own destiny. Thank you very much. But Canada is forever.”
On Monday, Canada got reprieve for at least 30 days from Trump’s threat to impose a 25 per cent tariff on all Canadian imports – except energy products, which would be subject to a 10 per cent tariff – after making new commitments to secure the shared border.
In addition to implementing the $1.3 billion border plan – which includes deploying additional personnel, drones, surveillance equipment and helicopters – Canada will appoint a “fentanyl czar” and list cartels as terrorists.
In his public address at the summit, Trudeau said Canada needs to use the 30-day extension “to both start thinking tactically and strategically,” which in part includes engaging with U.S. officials on the border.
“Over the next 30 days, we will demonstrate that even the tiny amount (of fentanyl) that is Canada’s responsibility into the United States is going to reduce even further by working together, not just across our border, but internationally as well, to make sure that there is no reason to move forward with those tariffs 30 days from now,” Trudeau said.
Public Safety Minister David McGuinty was in Valleyfield, Que., on Friday to survey the border on a ride-along with a Black Hawk helicopter.
Asked by reporters whether new border investments matter amid Trump’s musings about Canada becoming the 51s state, McGuinty said “it does matter what’s happening at the border.”
“These investments are making a strong border even stronger. That’s important,” he said.
McGuinty was also asked if the public safety department is making any preparations to respond to Trump’s annexation threat.
“The best assertion of our sovereignty is a strong border, and that’s what we’re doing. We’re making the border even stronger,” McGuinty said.
“I can’t interpret what the president is or is not saying about these comments. Canadians don’t accept this notion.”
The United States is Canada’s largest trading partner, with the annual trade relationship between the two countries adding up to about $1.3 trillion. Canada is also the largest export market for 36 U.S. states.
Trump’s tariff threat has renewed a push to remove internal trade barriers within Canada that have existed for decades. Interprovincial trade issues were even flagged back in a 1940 report of the Royal Commission on Dominion-Provincial Relations.
On Friday, Trudeau said there is “political will” among provinces to “move forward on free trade within Canada.”
“Internal trade is something that we’ve been talking about, and quite frankly, the business community has been talking about for decades as we have to move forward on it,” Trudeau said. “This is one of those moments and opportunities where we actually can. There’s a window open because of the context we’re in. We have to jump through it.”
Earlier this week, Transport and Internal Trade Minister Anita Anand, who met recently with her provincial counterparts, suggested interprovincial trade barriers could be wiped away in 30 days.
“We are making incredible, fast-paced progress with all of the provinces and territories,” Anand told reporters in Halifax on Wednesday.
Speaking to the media at the summit in Toronto on Friday, Anand said Canadians will see progress on the issue in the short term.
“The tangible results in the next 30 days for us to reduce red tape, for us to eliminate barriers to trade, and for us to build a domestic economy without going through Donald Trump is here and is now,” Anand said.
Anand also said she is looking to reduce the number of exceptions in the Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA), an intergovernmental trade deal signed by the federal government and all 13 provinces and territories back in July 2017.