Canadian Ministers of Finance, Foreign Affairs Meeting With Trump Team in Florida

Then-public safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc (C), Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (R), and Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly participate in a news conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Oct. 14, 2024. The Canadian Press/Justin Tang

Two Canadian ministers are in Florida this week to meet with the incoming U.S. administration to try to stave off the threat of sweeping tariffs.

Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly made the trip to Palm Beach, north of Miami, where U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago private club is located.

This is LeBlanc’s second trip to Florida to meet with the incoming administration. He went to Mar-a-Lago with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Nov. 29 in his previous capacity as public safety minister.

LeBlanc has since been appointed finance minister but retained his lead position to oversee the border issue. He said last week he would meet with Trump’s border czar Tom Homan after Christmas to discuss Canada’s new border plan, following a “very positive preliminary call” with him.

LeBlanc spokesperson Jean-Sébastien Comeau said the two ministers want to build on the previous discussions held in Mar-a-Lago in November and the recent call with Homan.

“The Ministers intend to focus on Canada’s efforts to combat fentanyl trafficking and illegal migration and the measures outlined in Canada’s Border Plan, as well as the negative impacts that the imposition of 25% tariffs on Canadian goods would have on both Canada and the United States,” Comeau said in a statement.

Trudeau, who is vacationing in British Columbia, will not be in attendance. The prime minister has been repeatedly taunted by Trump, who often refers to Trudeau as the “governor” of the “51st” U.S. state after the two met in November. Trump has also accused Canada of being “subsidized” by the U.S. “to the tune of over $100 billion a year.”

Trump has not elaborated on the scope of the figure, but the U.S. had a negative balance of US$67.9 billion in the trade of goods with Canada in 2023, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Canada and the U.S. share the world’s longest undefended border and nearly $3.6 billion worth of goods and services crossed the border each day in 2023.

Border Plan

Ottawa prepared a $1.3 billion plan to bolster the border and crack down on transnational crime after Trump threatened to impose 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico if they don’t do more to tackle illegal migration and drug smuggling.

The plan includes establishing a new unit within Health Canada to better track the distribution channels of precursor chemicals to make deadly drugs like fentanyl, as well as deploying additional detector dogs at ports of entry to stop drug shipments.

The RCMP, which is responsible for securing the border between ports of entry, will deploy new aerial surveillance assets such as helicopters and drones to monitor illegal crossings. Ottawa also wants its electronic spying agency, the Communications Security Establishment, to target transnational organized crime networks more effectively.

New immigration measures have come into force in recent days, such as bringing an end to the practice of “flagpoling.” This is when someone in Canada on a temporary visa leaves for the U.S. then quickly re-enters Canada to access immigration services at a port of entry.

The Liberal government has also proposed legislative changes to tighten immigration rules in its Fall Economic Statement, to prevent individuals from using Canada as a springboard to cross illegally into the United States.

Trump’s border czar Homan said last week Canadian immigration laws are “too lax.”

“It’s pretty easy to get into Canada. Not a lot of screening is done, not compared to the United States,” Homan told CTV News. “I’m talking about those who would come in just to get to Canada and transit to the United States. I think they need to be screened right before we let them in.”

Homan had also previously complained that individuals with terrorism links are using Canada to enter the United States, saying the northern border poses an “extreme national security vulnerability.”

Though the flow of drugs and illegal migrants has been much greater coming from the southern border, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection has intercepted more individuals on a U.S. terrorist watchlist crossing illegally from Canada. From Oct. 1, 2023, to Sept. 30, 2024, the northern border saw 358 such encounters compared to 52 at the southern border.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.