Canada – U.S. November 2024-

I’m a Canadian listening to Trump. Let’s talk about ‘the 51st state’
Don Tapscott, Canadian author of a dozen globally read books, who advises business and government leaders in many countries.
(Fortune) Trump picked a choice moment to make a move on Ottawa. Canadians are in a dour mood, leading some on its cultural and political fringes to seriously consider the upside of a Washington tie-up. Canadian investor and Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary, for instance, called a potential U.S.-Canadian merger “a great idea” and “huge opportunity.” Now Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said he’ll resign, and with the ensuing political instability we might look like a sitting duck.
The problem is that Canadians overwhelmingly want to remain Canadian. A recent poll found that 94% of Canadians prefer not to join the U.S. Canadians are as likely to give up their national identity as Americans would be, and everyone here is deeply offended at the suggestion of abandoning our beloved country.
Still, the U.S. is the world’s largest economy and an undisputed leader in technology and innovation, and Canada could gain serious economic benefits to an ever-closer union with her southern neighbor. Canadians are proud, but we’re also nothing if not open-minded; perhaps we should at least consider the idea.
Make an offer, America—but here are our terms:
To begin, let’s talk about valuation—what is Washington willing to pay for a merger? Canada is the world’s second largest country, has the world’s largest coastline, and is the fourth largest oil producer. Oh, we’re also home to more than 10% of the planet’s fresh water, not to mention a thriving economy.
In her 2013 book Merger of the Century, U.S.-Canadian writer Diane Francis argued that the two countries should be combined, and she enlisted an investment banker to determine the price tag. The two used metrics sourced from the CIA’s World Factbook—comparing U.S. and Canadian GDPs; their total land areas, including offshore rights; debts; foreign reserves, and gold assets; renewable resources such as water and farmland; and fossil fuel production. In rough numbers, Canada was worth $17 trillion more than the U.S., equivalent to $492,529 per Canadian!

16 January
Justin Trudeau names ex-premiers, business and union reps to Canada-U.S. relations council
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has formed a new Canada-U.S. relations council to support the federal government as it deals with the incoming Trump administration’s vow to impose tariffs.
The 18 members of the council include Steve Verheul, who was Canada’s chief trade negotiator during the renegotiation of NAFTA.
Joining him on the council are former premiers Jean Charest, Rachel Notley and Stephen McNeil.
Canada’s Ambassador to the United States Kirsten Hillman, former ambassador David MacNaughton and Jody Thomas, the prime minister’s former national security adviser, are also joining the council.
The group includes representatives from the automotive industry, the nuclear power sector, agriculture and the labour movement.

15 January
Dear Donald Trump: Your plan to create ‘the United States of Canada’ is brilliant
By John Manley (a deputy prime minister and minister of finance in Jean Chrétien’s government.) whose tongue is firmly stuck in cheek
(Globe & Mail) … Imagine what the “United States of Canada” could be. We would marry American ingenuity and entrepreneurship to Canada’s natural resources, underdog toughness and culture of self-effacing politeness to create a powerful, world-dominating country.
We would be the largest land mass in the world. We would be self-reliant in every respect (food, energy, minerals, water). We would attract the world’s most talented people. We would truly be “the best country in the world,” to use Mr. Chrétien’s words, and would dominate international hockey competitions. Your idea is truly brilliant.

13-15 January
Ford says Canada must come first as Smith breaks with premiers on Trump retaliation
(CBC) Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Wednesday the country’s leaders must put Canada first and forcefully hit back against president-elect Donald Trump if he goes ahead with punishing tariffs on all of our goods — while singling out Alberta Premier Danielle Smith for her reluctance to go all-in on retaliation.
Speaking to reporters after an hours-long meeting between the 13 premiers and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Ottawa, Ford said Canada must unite to confront Trump’s proposed economic aggression and his promise of a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian imports.
Ford said he and the other premiers are in agreement with Trudeau that Canada must be prepared to use “every tool in its toolbox” to make the U.S. pay if it goes ahead with tariffs that have the potential to throw the economy into a tailspin.
Alberta refuses to sign joint statement on Trump tariffs from first ministers’ meeting
(Globe & Mail) Smith posted on social media saying she could not go along with the Canadian plan to take on Trump because federal government officials “continue to publicly and privately float the idea of cutting off energy supply to the U.S. and imposing export tariffs on Alberta energy and other products to the United States.”
“Until these threats cease, Alberta will not be able to fully support the federal government’s plan in dealing with the threatened tariffs,” she said.
Canada’s provincial leaders in disarray over response to Trump tariff threats
Responses range from conciliation to retaliation, including cutting off electricity and halting the purchase of US liquor
The dispute appears to undercut the united “Team Canada” approach that the country’s leaders have sought and is likely to cause friction when the premiers meet on Wednesday.
Ontario Pitches Trump on Mining Deals With Tariffs Looming
(Bloomberg) Ontario Premier Doug Ford unveiled Monday a new plank in a broader strategy he calls “Fortress Am-Can.” The plan aims to invest in and build out a critical minerals supply chain in North America. It advocates for expanding capacity to process metals and minerals mined on the continent, while accelerating federal and provincial timelines to permit and approve mining projects.
“The success of Fortress Am-Can depends on the critical minerals needed for new technologies, including advanced military technologies that will define geopolitical and economic security for the next century,” Ford said in a statement.
Donald Trump’s constant talk of annexing Canada is about forming an economic union, Kevin O’Leary says
Mr. O’Leary, also a reality TV star, has visited the U.S. president-elect at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida a number of times since Mr. Trump won the 2024 presidential election. … He said in his opinion, Mr. Trump’s talk represents opportunity for Canada, rather than a threat. … He said he doesn’t think the incoming president is envisioning a political union. What’s genuine, however, is a desire by Mr. Trump to break down economic barriers between Canada and the United States, he said.
Andrew Coyne: Kevin O’Leary explains: not annexation, just an economic union that amounts to the same thing
The last time Kevin O’Leary attempted to intervene in our politics, he was campaigning for leader of the Conservative Party – from Massachusetts.
He had just joined the party, couldn’t speak a word of French (“I speak the language of jobs”), attended few of the debates, and refused to commit to living in Canada if he won. Nevertheless the Boston Stranger was the front-runner in many polls until, inevitably, withdrawing a month before the vote.
Eight years later, Mr. O’Leary is back with a new grift. No longer pretending to be interested in running the country, his latest scheme is to deliver it into the trembling hands of Donald Trump.
Trump’s threats against Canada not the words of a ‘friend, a partner and an ally,’ former PM Stephen Harper says
Mr. Harper said in a podcast interview released Monday that Canada is currently subsidizing Americans by selling them petroleum at a discount and should consider selling its oil and gas to other countries instead.
Mr. Harper, who described himself as probably the most “pro-American prime minister in Canada’s history,” said he was still shocked by some of Mr. Trump’s comments.
Say goodbye to the U.S. we knew, and plan for the next one
Campbell Clark
… Justin Trudeau will be the last prime minister first elected into a world that felt safe and predictable.
He had to wrestle down Mr. Trump’s first term, but the president-elect’s return to the White House appears to be bringing something bigger and broader. There’s no reason to think the MAGA movement, and Mr. Trump’s zero-sum of international economics, will be gone in four years. Canada’s next prime minister is going to have to rethink a lot of this country’s assumptions.

12 January
Canada’s election is about to have an Elon Musk problem with Trudeau’s exit
(The Guardian) Since Trudeau’s resignation on Monday, Musk has posted repeatedly about Canadian politics on X. He has praised clips of Pierre Poilievre, the leader of Canada’s Conservative party, while relishing Trudeau’s downfall and engaging with rightwing Canadian influencers.
Trump and Musk have been promoting the idea of Canada becoming part of the United States, something that every major Canadian party leader, including Poilievre, has rejected. Trudeau posted on Tuesday that there “isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell” of Trump’s proposal becoming reality.
It appears that Kevin O’Leary, Danielle Smith, and Jordan Peterson were all at Mar-A-Lago with Donald Trump on January 11
Andrew Coyne: Ah marvellous. No doubt they were there to plead Canada’s case and not, you know, the opposite
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith visits Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago
Other social media posts showed Smith, along with Canadian celebrity investor Kevin O’Leary and psychologist and media personality Jordan Peterson, posing for photographs in the Palm Beach mansion.
O’Leary has courted controversy recently by expressing support for the idea of an economic union between Canada and the U.S., an idea he has promised to raise with the incoming American president.
In December, Smith said she would attend Trump’s inauguration ceremony in Washington on Jan. 20.
As well as attending the inauguration, Smith will be hosting several events in Washington and hopes to meet with energy groups, congresspeople, and various officials, according to a spokesperson.

11-12 January
Jean Chrétien responds in an open letter to threats from Donald Trump
Former Canadian prime minister Jean Chrétien responded in an open letter published Saturday morning to threats against Canada by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. The text of the letter, published in La Presse and The Globe and Mail, calls on Canadian political leaders to show “determination” and “tenacity,” and on Canadians to unite in the face of statements by Trump, who has said he will impose significant tariffs on Canada and that he wants to make the country into the 51st American state.

Jean Chrétien: Canadians will never give up the best country in the world to join the U.S.
Today is my 91st birthday.
(Globe & Mail) … This year, I’ve also decided to give myself a birthday present. I’m going to do something in this article that I don’t do very often anymore, and sound off on a big issue affecting the state of the nation and profoundly bothering me and so many other Canadians: The totally unacceptable insults and unprecedented threats to our very sovereignty from U.S. president-elect Donald Trump.
I have two very clear and simple messages.
To Donald Trump, from one old guy to another: Give your head a shake! What could make you think that Canadians would ever give up the best country in the world – and make no mistake, that is what we are – to join the United States?
… If you think that threatening and insulting us is going to win us over, you really don’t know a thing about us. You don’t know that when it came to fighting in two world wars for freedom, we signed up – both times – years before your country did. We fought and we sacrificed well beyond our numbers. …
We may look easy-going. Mild-mannered. But make no mistake, we have spine and toughness.
And that leads me to my second message, to all our leaders, federal and provincial, as well as those who are aspiring to lead our country: Start showing that spine and toughness. That’s what Canadians want to see – what they need to see. It’s called leadership. You need to lead. Canadians are ready to follow.
I know the spirit is there. Ever since Mr. Trump’s attacks, every political party is speaking out in favour of Canada. In fact, it is to my great satisfaction that even the Bloc Québécois is defending Canada. …

10 January
Trudeau says Trump didn’t find his joke about a trade for Vermont or California funny
PM says he suggested the trade as a joke when Trump brought up the 51st state idea during the meeting at Mar-a-Lago. ‘(Trump) immediately decided that it was not that funny anymore’

9 January
Analysis – Trump has threatened Canada in all sorts of ways. What does he really want?
President-elect’s talk of using ‘economic force’ is significant, given Canada’s reliance on U.S. trade

Trudeau warns that Trump’s tariffs will raise prices for Americans
“Everything the American consumers buy from Canada is suddenly going to get a lot more expensive,” the prime minister told CNN’s Jake Tapper.
If President-elect Donald Trump has his way, “everything the American consumers buy from Canada is suddenly going to get a lot more expensive,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned during an interview with CNN on Thursday afternoon.
Trudeau shared a list of imports facing the 25 percent tariffs Trump has threatened to slap on Canadian imports: oil and gas, electricity, steel, aluminum, lumber and concrete.

8 January
Elizabeth May proposes California, Oregon, Washington join Canada after Trump’s 51st state threat
The basic idea of ‘Cascadia’ is to calve off B.C., Washington and Oregon to form a super-rich hyper-progressive enviro-state
Amid repeated pledges by U.S. president-elect Donald Trump to annex Canada, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May has jokingly resurrected a decades-old proposal for British Columbia to form Cascadia, an independent nation with the Pacific Northwest states of Oregon and Washington.
… She also pledged “safer streets,” “strict gun laws” and free abortions, and said if the United States allowed the secession of its West Coast it would “get rid of all these states that always vote democrat.”
The idea of an independent “Cascadia” has been dwelling on the fringes of B.C. politics for decades, with the Cascadia flag being a not-uncommon sight for car bumpers on both sides of the border.

‘Our country is not for sale,’ Ford says as he pitches energy plan with U.S.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford has outlined a proposed energy alliance between Canada and the United States designed to unite the two countries as efforts to head off increasingly hostile threats from President-elect Donald Trump continue.
The proposal, which Ontario is calling “Fortness Am-Can,” is being pitched as a “renewed strategic alliance between Canada and America” aimed at achieving energy security and power economic growth for both countries.

7 January
GWYNNE DYER: Another victim of Trump, Trudeau bites the dust
Trudeau’s downfall was Trump’s tariff demand, writes Dyer, but it doesn’t mean Poilievre is a shoo-in
Donald Trump excels in every field, including surrealism. Leonard Cohen sang “First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin!” but it’s completely outclassed by Trump’s “First we take Greenland, then we take Canada!” And he’s going to take the Panama Canal too!
It’s probably just bluster and nonsense, but it has already taken down Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister for the past nine years. His resignation on Monday, Jan. 6, was the delayed consequence of a row with his deputy Chrystia Freeland last month over his ‘weak’ response to Trump’s threat to slap a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian exports to the U.S.

Trump responds to Trudeau resignation by suggesting Canada merge with U.S..
Trump is set to take office, slap tariffs on Canada while Trudeau remains ‘lame duck’ PM
(CBC) The resignation means there is now very little that Trudeau can do now to stave off Trump’s tariff threat, says David MacNaughton, whom Trudeau appointed as Canada’s ambassador to the U.S. in 2016.
“The reality is, today you announce you’re stepping down, your power, your influence dissipates almost immediately,” MacNaughton told CBC News on Monday.
He says Trudeau should have made this move months ago to ensure the government was prepared for Trump’s potential return to the White House.
“We’re going to have a few months of uncertainty right now … and in the meantime, Trump is feeling pretty cocky these days.”

2 January
Why the Team Canada approach to trade talks will not be so easy this time
By Steve Verheul, Canada’s chief trade negotiator from 2017-21, leading to the [USMCA]. He is now a fellow at the Public Policy Forum
(Globe & Mail) The Prime Minister’s visit to Mar-a-Lago last week was an important step in establishing relationships between Canada and the incoming U.S. administration, but this country has a lot of work to do to get ready for president-elect Donald Trump’s second term.
There was a key advantage for Canada last time, when we renegotiated North American free trade in Mr. Trump’s first term. That advantage was its Team Canada approach – representatives of all political parties in the federal government, all provinces and territories, and industry and labour were solidly united behind Canada’s strategy and approach.
The political environment is very different now, as Mr. Trump vows to impose a 25-per-cent tariff on all imports from Canada. There will be an election next year. Everyone knows what the polls look like. There is a more fractious relationship with provinces and territories, with key players not hesitant to express discordant views on federal issues. Unlike the last time, Canada doesn’t have the advantage of starting with a united front. – Globe & Mail 3 December 2024

2 January
Canada’s fight with Trump isn’t just economic, it’s existential
Stewart Prest, Lecturer, Political Science, UBC
(The Conversation) … Whoever becomes prime minister in the weeks or months to come will have to figure out how to deal with Trump — and the existential threat he poses to Canada — in a much more effective manner than the Liberals have under Trudeau.
Trump is flagrantly disrespecting Canadian independence and, along with it, Canadian identity. He’s openly challenging the very idea of Canadian sovereignty. Canada must respond accordingly.
It can be hard to fully understand the nature and the extent of threats posed by someone so willing to flaunt respected political and diplomatic conventions. His annexation threats create a constant set of multifaceted challenges to Canada’s economic prosperity, democratic norms and sovereignty.
The economic dimension of his threat to Canada is now well-known. Trump’s proposed 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian exports to the U.S. are going to be incredibly costly to both countries, given the integration of their economies. But given the size disparity between the two countries, the impact will be bigger in Canada.
The democratic threat is also clear. Trump has shown he regards democracy not as a crucial set of rules and norms, but as a set of obstacles to overcome.
Six issues that will shape US-Canada relations in 2025
David Moscrop
(GZERO North) In December, Justin Trudeau warned that dealing with President-elect Donald Trump would be “a little more challenging” than last time around.
With Trump threatening massive tariffs that would hit Canada hard, taking aim at the country’s anemic defense spending, criticizing its border policy, eyeing its fresh water, and more, 2025 will indeed be a rocky time for US-Canada relations. … Whoever leads Canada in the months to come, these are the top US-Canada issues they’ll be focused on:
1. Trade and tariffs
2. A (metaphorical?) border wall
3. Defense spending and securing the Arctic
4. Water, water everywhere?
5. Critical minerals. It’s in the name
6. Setting limits on Big Tech

2024

17-18 December
Donald Trump says Canada becoming 51st U.S. state is ‘a great idea.’ Jean Charest calls the comment a ‘wake-up call’
(CTV) U.S. president-elect Donald Trump is taking aim at Canada once more, saying it would be “a great idea” to make it America’s “51st state.”
“No one can answer why we subsidize Canada to the tune of over $100,000,000 a year? Makes no sense!” Trump said in a post early Wednesday morning on Truth Social.
“Many Canadians want Canada to become the 51st State. They would save massively on taxes and military protection. I think it is a great idea. 51st State!!!”
Early Wednesday afternoon, former deputy prime minister and Quebec premier Jean Charest fired back at Trump’s post, calling it a “wake-up call.”
“Every Canadian, regardless of their opinion of the Prime Minister or political affiliation, should feel deeply offended by President Trump’s remarks,” Charest wrote in a post to X (formerly Twitter).
“For too long, we have been complacent in our relationships with the United States and the rest of the world. We need to unite and rise to this historic occasion to shape the future of Canada.”

Freeland defended by Liberal MPs, as Trudeau’s feminist reputation is questioned
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s reputation as a self-described feminist is taking a hit
A Liberal source says Trudeau informed Freeland of his decision in a Zoom call last Friday morning, offering her to become the minister responsible for Canada-U.S. relations, which is not a standalone ministry and does not have a budget. The source said a cabinet shuffle was supposed to happen by Wednesday.

How Canada and the country’s premiers must respond to Trump’s trade and energy policies
By Mark Winfield, Professor, Environmental and Urban Change, York University
(The Conversation) The federal government is now suffering an internal crisis with the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland. Canada’s provincial premiers, led by Ontario’s Doug Ford, have responded by emerging from a recent meeting asserting their leadership roles in terms of trade and foreign policy.
Unfortunately, the provinces are too fragmented and divided among themselves to provide effective and co-ordinated responses to Trump without federal leadership.
…because Trump’s threats violate the foundations that have defined the Canada-U.S. trade over the past four decades, a response in the area of energy would be justified and strategic.
But rather than imposing direct export restrictions on Canada energy exports, a smarter approach could involve the threat of retaliatory charges on Canadian exports of energy and other resources to the U.S. Such charges would significantly increase energy and other costs for Americans.
An export charge could be applied directly by the federal government. That would bypass the objections of provincial premiers and impose some unity on Canada’s approach.
Engaging American states
Canada’s premiers would be smarter to focus on engaging with their sub-national counterparts in neighbouring states rather than conducting their own freelance diplomacy.
In particular, they should encourage the governors of Great Lakes states to emphasize to the incoming administration and congressional representatives the extent to which Trump’s proposed tariffs would do as much harm to their economies as they would to Canada’s.

Don Braid: Trump’s talk of 51st state called Canada is an age-old dream, and no joke
The Own Canada movement is spreading fast in the U.S. President-elect Donald Trump jokes about the 51st state, his Fox News boosters amplify, and we squirm uncomfortably at the notion that this country could be annexed.
This country is hugely desirable to outsiders. We’re so busy with our internal conflicts that we lose sight of how the country is perceived. All the other big nations besides the U.S. — Russia, China, India — are well-populated and defended. They exploit their resources with relish and look elsewhere for more. And what do they see? A gigantic but lightly populated Canada, defended by a small military routinely starved by Ottawa. A country whose government won’t even live up to its NATO funding obligations. To outsiders, the second largest country on Earth is loosely governed by people with little interest in developing spectacular resources other countries would love to have.

NB Admission to the Union
Historically, most new states formed by Congress have been established from an organized incorporated U.S. territory, created and governed by Congress in accord with its plenary power under Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2 of the Constitution.
In some cases, an entire territory became a state; in others some part of a territory became a state. In most cases, the organized government of a territory made known the sentiment of its population in favor of statehood, usually by referendum. Congress then empowered that government to organize a constitutional convention to write a state constitution. Upon acceptance of that constitution, by the people of the territory and then by Congress, Congress would adopt by simple majority vote a joint resolution granting statehood. Then the President of the United States would sign the resolution and issue a proclamation announcing that a new state had been added to the Union. While Congress, which has ultimate authority over the admission of new states, has usually followed this procedure, there have been occasions when it did not.

11 December
What Trump is doing to Trudeau is a tried-and-true humiliation tactic
Andrew Cohen
… Mr. Trudeau had solicited the invitation after Mr. Trump threatened to impose a 25-per-cent tariff on imports from Canada. When you have to ask – nay, beg – for an audience with the emperor, you’re negotiating from weakness. The former president knew, as well, how to embarrass his guest, whom he once liked as a celebrity.
So, dinner was in public, in a crowded, noisy dining room, one table among many. Hardly a place to discuss sensitive issues as Mr. Trudeau pressed his case, armed with figures denying the border is porous, promising more drones, helicopters and agents nonetheless. Meanwhile, the distracted host played disc jockey, managing the music in the room from his iPad. He played Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah, a nod to the poet and balladeer from Montreal and friend of Justin’s father, if he knew that.
Most demeaning was the easy banter (“teasing,” one observer called it) about making Canada the 51st state, with Mr. Trudeau as governor.
Think about it. You go before your friend, neighbour and ally to spare your country financial ruin. And the king and courtiers at the royal table are guffawing and harrumphing about absorbing you. And forcing you to genuflect, flatter, laugh and play the fool.

9-10 December
Trump Calls Trudeau ‘Governor’ Of ‘The Great State Of Canada
Trump’s post came just hours after Trudeau said he would retaliate if Canada is hit with tariffs
Psychoanalysis explains why Donald Trump is taunting Canada and ‘Governor Justin Trudeau
Gavin Fridell, Professor of Political Science and Global Development Studies, Saint Mary’s University
Ilan Kapoor, Professor, Psychoanalytic Theory/Politics, York University,
(The Conversation) In our recent book examining psychoanalysis and politics, we argue that too often media and policymakers downplay the significance of unconscious desire in everyday politics and economics.
We believe ideology — whether it’s “free trade,” “free choice” or “Make America Great Again” — is not comprised of tired rallying cries by political leaders, but something seductive that both politicians and voters unconsciously desire, regardless of the eventual, and usually negative, repercussions.
“Trade” is therefore more than the sum of economic parts; it is also highly emotional and even fetishized, imbued with near-magical expectations that defy economic common sense and prudence.
Trump’s election campaign successfully drew on this emotional allure, tapping into popular economic frustrations over the rise of China and the relative decline of the U.S. He offered up trade and tariffs as tools to “Make America Great Again.”
Canada, meanwhile, has been caught in the crosshairs, seeking to appease the U.S. while becoming the target of Trump’s populism regardless. …
The irrationality of Trump’s populist protectionist policies is plain for all to see. No wonder Chinese officials point out that “no one will win a trade [or] tariff war.”
As for Canada, it is unlikely that appeasing Trump or betraying Mexico will do much to placate the president-elect. To the contrary, these efforts could well be taken as evidence that more bullying is in order and further concessions can yet be extracted.
Trump’s latest taunts to Trudeau, in fact, prove that escalated bullying will be a common presidential tactic in the months and years ahead — as if we needed more.
Dealing with Trump will be ‘a little more challenging’ than last time: Trudeau
(CTV) Trudeau warned that steep tariffs could be “devastating for the Canadian economy” and cause “just horrific losses in all of our communities,” and that Trump’s approach is to introduce “a bit of chaos” to destabilize his negotiating partners.
But he also said that Canada exports a range of goods to the U.S., from steel and aluminum to crude oil and agricultural commodities, all of which would get more expensive and mean “real hardship” for Americans at the same time.

3 December
Canada-U.S. partnership will endure beyond Trump clashes and tariff threats, says outgoing U.S. ambassador
U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s promise to impose wide-ranging tariffs on imports from Canada poses a potentially existential threat to this country, the departing U.S. envoy to Ottawa is warning.
Such tariffs “unquestionably would be devastating on Canada, on Canadian businesses and on the Canadian economy,” said David Cohen, U.S. ambassador.
But Mr. Cohen offered an optimistic outlook, pointing to the broad sweep and complexity of the ties between the U.S. and Canada, which he likened to members of a family that have historically resolved differences amicably.
Trump’s quip about Canada becoming 51st state was a joke, says minister who was there
President-elect Donald Trump joked at one point during his dinner with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday night that if Canada can’t handle the economic effects of a punishing 25 per cent tariff on its goods, it should become the 51st state of the U.S.
Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who was with Trudeau at the intimate dinner at Mar-a-Lago, said Trump’s quip was quite clearly a joke — and not some sort of signal of a serious plan to annex Canada.
Gerald Butts, a former senior adviser to Trudeau, said in a social media post Tuesday that “Trump used this 51st state line all the time with Trudeau in his first term,” and that it’s a dig he uses to “rattle Canadian cages.”

29 November-1 December
Canada promised helicopters, more border security in a bid to get Trump to walk back tariff threat
(Globe & Mail) Canada has promised Donald Trump that it will deploy additional drones, helicopters and personnel to safeguard its side of the border with the United States, Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc says, in an effort to convince the American leader to shelve the steep tariffs he’s threatened on Canadian goods.
But, Mr. LeBlanc acknowledged, Canada has not so far obtained any assurances that the U.S. president-elect will back away from the threatened tariffs.
Mr. LeBlanc accompanied Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to a dinner Friday night…where they spent three hours talking to the president-elect and his team.
He said they told the Americans that Canada is “going to look to procure, for example, additional drones, additional police helicopters” and redeploy staff as needed, the minister told CBC News Sunday.
Trudeau promised Trump tougher border controls, says top Canada official
By David Ljunggren
(Reuters) – … Trudeau flew to Florida on Friday to have dinner with Trump, who has promised to slap tariffs on Canadian imports unless Ottawa prevents migrants and drugs from crossing the frontier.
Canada sends 75% of all goods and services exports to the United States and tariffs would badly hurt the economy.
Trudeau and Trump talk trade, border security at Florida dinner, but PM receives no promise tariff pledge will be shelved
On Saturday, Mr. Trump described the meeting as “very productive” and said Mr. Trudeau had “made a commitment to work with us to end” the U.S.’s drug crisis. In a social media post, the president-elect did not say anything further about tariffs but made clear that the pair also discussed trade.
“I just had a very productive meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, where we discussed many important topics that will require both Countries to work together to address, like the Fentanyl and Drug Crisis that has decimated so many lives as a result of Illegal Immigration, Fair Trade Deals that do not jeopardize American Workers, and the massive Trade Deficit the U.S. has with Canada,” he wrote.
Energy and the Arctic were other topics of conversation, Trump wrote, without mentioning what actions, if any, Canada had agreed to take or how they would affect his tariff promise.

28 November
Provinces filling void left by Ottawa’s inaction on Canada-U.S. border, Poilievre says
(Globe & Mail) Speaking on Thursday, the day after an emergency meeting between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premiers over pledged tariffs from U.S. president-elect Donald Trump, Mr. Poilievre said Mr. Trudeau bears responsibility for problems at Canada’s borders, citing Quebec’s Roxham Road, which turned into an unofficial border crossing for asylum seekers, and American concerns about thousands of foreigners sneaking into the U.S. from Canada.

26 November
Jeremy Kinsman: The Trumpian Tariff Trolling Has Begun
(Policy) …in determining counters to Trump’s outrageous remarks that declared open hostility to the Canadian state and people, start with the need to see with one set of like-minded eyes with our European and Japanese – and Mexican – partners, to evoke a single response: “No… You don’t do things this way in this world, which is not yours to redesign. We shall retaliate, reorganize, and resist such tactics. We shall negotiate anything of merit, but not under a threat.”
I thought today of how a Pole in England would have felt 85 years ago to wake to hear his country had been attacked. As a Canadian in England, I frankly felt some slight sense of that today. It’s not war. But if taken through to foreseeable consequences Trump’s “vow” could also prompt global breakdown, to the great diminishment of the United States of America. And to the great satisfaction of Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin.
In professional discourse over the years with diplomats and friends from the Middle East ‑ Arab and Israeli ‑ and more recently from Ukraine, I have heard more times than I can count, the retort, “Well, we sure would prefer to live in a nice neighbourhood like Canada’s.”
Good job, Donald.
After Trump vows 25% tariff, here’s what Trudeau, Poilievre and premiers say
(Global) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he had a “good call” with U.S. president-elect Donald Trump, who announced Monday night that he will sign an executive order imposing a 25 per cent tariff on all products coming into the U.S. from Canada and Mexico once he is in office. “We obviously talked about laying out the facts, talking about how the intense and effective connections between our two countries flow back and forth,” Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa before a cabinet meeting.
… Trudeau said he has already been in contact with several premiers, including Ontario’s Doug Ford and Quebec’s François Legault, and a first ministers’ meeting will be held this week to talk about the U.S.
“One of the really important things is that we be all pulling together on this. The Team Canada approach is what works.”
Trump wastes no time to target Canada
by Karl Nerenberg
Donald Trump is once again bandying about threats, this time targeting Canada and Mexico, but will he and can he back up his boasts?
(Rabble.Ca) What do illegal drugs and desperate people seeking a safe haven have to do with refrigerators from China, strawberries from Mexico, and auto parts from Canada? If you answered “nothing”, you’re right. The reason Donald Trump cites these unconnected phenomena as justification for new protectionist measures is that U.S. presidents do not have unlimited authority to impose tariffs at their whim. Constitutionally, tariffs fall within the purview of the U.S. legislative branch, the Congress. The president can only unilaterally impose new tariffs in wartime or for national security reasons. The wartime power goes back to a 1917 law passed during World War I. The national security provision only came about in 1974, in a new trade act Congress passed during Richard Nixon’s presidency, The 1974 act gives presidents the power to impose tariffs of up to 15 per cent, for a limited time period, 150 days, if they deem imports have a negative impact on U.S. “national security.” There is no law giving the president the right to impose 25 per cent tariffs for an unlimited time period.
Trump tariffs: Which Canadian industries will be hit hardest?
Ontario, the heart of Canada’s auto manufacturing sector, and Alberta, which ships a large amount of oil and gas south of the border, could feel the pinch. …some of the investments that Canada has made in its auto manufacturing industry, particularly around EV production, could slow down.
According to the Aluminum Association of Canada, the U.S. consumes about six million tonnes of aluminum a year and produces only 800,000 tons. The rest is largely imported from Canada.
[The] Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters said the tariffs are a “lose-lose proposition.”
Dennis Darby, the group’s president and CEO, said in a statement, “Canada’s exports to the U.S. are primarily materials and inputs used by American businesses to manufacture other products.”
“Imposing tariffs wouldn’t just harm Canada’s economy, it would also hurt U.S. manufacturers by increasing their costs and disrupting the deeply-integrated supply chains that make North American manufacturing globally competitive,” Darby said.
Farmer groups are warning about adverse effects on agriculture, with the Grain Growers of Canada (GGC) saying that 70 per cent of Canada’s grains are exported to the United States, amounting to $14 billion.

25 November
Donald Trump threatens 25% tariff on products from Canada, Mexico
Says they’re coming on Day 1, in announcement on social media
Canadian dollar plunges
(CBC) The news sent the Canadian dollar plunging in overnight trading, to a low unseen in years. This was, coincidentally, as Canadian cabinet ministers were meeting to discuss U.S. relations, said a federal source.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau re-established a cabinet committee on Canada-U.S. relations this month, in anticipation of a repeat of the cross-border uncertainties during the last time Trump was president.
It’s unclear whether Trump intends to proceed with the idea as described. One feature of his first term was occasionally issuing tariff threats as part of a negotiation.
Negotiation tactic or not?
What’s unclear is how this tariff threat squares with one of Trump’s major promises of the campaign: to lower the cost of living in general for Americans, and the cost of gas in particular.
Oil is Canada’s No. 1 export to the United States. A 25 per cent levy on oil would present a challenge to that seminal election promise.

21 November
Donald Trump picks former U.S. congressman Pete Hoekstra as ambassador to Canada
“Pete is well-respected in the Great State of Michigan – A State we won sizably,” Trump posted on his social media platform, Truth Social on Wednesday.
Next U.S. ambassador Hoekstra ‘easier to do business’ with, former envoy says
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly welcomed president-elect Donald Trump’s pick for the next U.S. ambassador in Ottawa, a former longtime Michigan congressional representative who voted for NAFTA and later wavered on new free trade deals.
… Former Canadian diplomat Colin Robertson, who has met with Hoekstra before, said he’s someone Canada can work with.
“He’s not from the (WWE) or Fox News. He’s an ambassador in the Netherlands previously and he’s from Michigan, so somebody who understands Canada,” Robertson said. “He’s well suited to the posting and I think it’ll be easier to do business with somebody who has his depth of experience.”

19 November
Trump names his tariff man. Here’s what he’s said and what it means for Canada
Trump’s trade-and-commerce pick Howard Lutnick has made some reassuring comments. And some less so
Howard Lutnick is a Wall Street heavyweight, the co-leader of Trump’s transition team, and has now been nominated to lead Trump’s Department of Commerce and trade and tariff strategy.
According to different estimates, Trump’s tariff plan could cost Canada’s economy anywhere from a half-per cent of GDP to a devastating five per cent.
The level of damage depends on the details. Trump offered scant specifics during the campaign about how exactly his tariff plan would work.
Trump threatens to impose sweeping new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China on first day in office
(AP) — President-elect Donald Trump is threatening to impose sweeping new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China as soon as he takes office as part of his effort to crack down on illegal immigration and drugs.
The tariffs, if implemented, could dramatically raise prices on everything from gas to automobiles to agricultural products. The U.S. is the largest importer of goods in the world, with Mexico, China and Canada its top three suppliers, according to the most recent U.S. Census data.
Trump made the threats in a pair of posts on his Truth Social site Monday evening in which he railed against an influx of illegal migrants, even though southern border apprehensions have been hovering near four-year lows.
If Trump were to move forward with the threatened tariffs, the new taxes would pose an enormous challenge for the economies of Canada and Mexico, in particular.

Premiers call for urgent meeting with Trudeau to discuss Canada-U.S. relations
Ontario Premier Doug Ford has been pushing for a new trade deal with the U.S. that would exclude Mexico
Canada’s premiers say they want to meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “as soon as possible” to discuss the Canada-U.S. relationship.
In a letter to Trudeau, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he and his fellow premiers want to meet to discuss how Ottawa plans to approach its relationship with Washington now that Donald Trump is returning to the White House.
The premiers also say they want to know Ottawa’s plan for the upcoming review of the trilateral continental trade pact known as Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).

13 November
Canada-U.S. relationship in the spotlight
(iPolitics) …today in Parliament Hill…the newly reviewed cabinet committee on Canada-U.S. relations held its second meeting.
After that meeting, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters she has concerns about Mexico’s economic relationship with China, but would not commit to pursuing a bilateral free trade deal with the U.S.
On Wednesday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Mexico had become a “backdoor” for Chinese goods, allowing them to circumvent U.S. and Canadian tariffs. Ford called for Mexico to be excluded from the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) and asked Ottawa to pursue a nation-to-nation deal with U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration.
Freeland emphasized that Canada and the U.S. were completely aligned on China, as evidenced by recent levies the federal government introduced on Chinese steel, aluminum, and electric-vehicles.