Ministers, Premiers React Following Meeting With Trudeau on Threat of US Tariffs

Canada's premiers take part in a photo opportunity during the Council of the Federation meetings in Halifax on July 16, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese

Premiers and ministers agreed that Canada must mount a united response based on increasing border security, following a Council of the Federation meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to discuss how to deal with the incoming U.S. administration’s threats of 25 percent tariffs.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said the Nov. 27 meeting mainly revolved around the trading relationship between the two countries. She noted that many premiers were concerned with exports to the U.S., particularly oil, critical minerals, and metals.

“The conversation we had was very positive. We were very united, and we all really agreed that right now, what Canada needs is for us to work together, that we need to be strong, we need to be smart, we need to be united,” Freeland said at a Nov. 27 press conference, adding that the country is facing a “significant challenge.”

Incoming U.S. President Donald Trump said on Nov. 25 that he would impose a 25 percent tariff on all goods coming from Canada and Mexico until each country properly tackles its illegal immigration and drug smuggling issues. The United States is Canada’s largest trading partner, with 63 percent of its exports going to the country.

The following day, Trudeau said he would convene a meeting with provincial and territorial leaders on Nov. 27 to coordinate a response. The prime minister had spoken with Trump on Nov. 24, which Trudeau described as a “good call” that involved “laying out the facts, talking about how the intense and effective connections between our two countries flow back and forth.”

Freeland said the meeting with the premiers touched on the Canada-U.S. border and the need for increased border security. “We agreed that illegal drugs, especially opioids are a scourge for both of our countries, and that we need to continue to work hard to ensure our border is safe and secure, and to really crack down on illegal drugs,” Freeland said.

Trudeau said in a statement the conversation revolved around ways for Canada to strengthen its relationship with the U.S., including through trade and investment, upholding border security, strengthening cross-border supply chains, and supporting Canadian and American manufacturing sectors. Trudeau also stressed that Ottawa has made investments in disrupting fentanyl shipments from China and securing the border.

Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc told reporters that premiers stressed the importance of reassuring the Americans that the border is secure.

“We believe unequivocally that the Canadian border is secure, that we have the people in place, we have the technology in place to assure Canadians and Americans,” he said.

“Canadians have every interest in ensuring the integrity and security of the border. That’s a foremost responsibility for our government, and that the Americans share that concern is also very normal, and has resulted in decades of daily collaboration,” Leblanc said.

Leblanc said in the coming weeks Canadians could expect more “visible and public-facing measures” from the RCMP and Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) in order to show “the work that’s done, reassuring Canadians in the security of our border, and showing Americans the historic and daily partnership that exists between the RCMP and American agencies.”

Former Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting director Tom Homan, who is set to oversee U.S. border operations under Trump, has said border patrol agents at the northern border are “overwhelmed” with migrants, and raised concerns about “potential violent extremists crossing from Canada into the United States, or vice versa.”

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data show there were nearly 199,000 “migrant encounters” at its shared border with Canada in 2024, an increase from 109,535 in 2022.

Premiers React to Meeting

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said in a statement following the meeting that he had encouraged Ottawa to show that Canada is “responsive to U.S. security and economic concerns” by matching their tariffs on China, banning Chinese software in cars, delaying the digital services tax, and presenting a plan to meet NATO’s 2 percent defence spending target.

He also reiterated calls for Canada to negotiate a bilateral trade agreement with the U.S. that would leave out Mexico, saying the southernmost country had “become a backdoor for cheap Chinese transshipment.”

Ford said during the meeting he stressed that the federal government had been “slow to react” on border security and needed to have a more proactive approach. He said he raised the issue of cracking down on illegal crossings and drug smuggling, and increasing funding for the RCMP and CBSA.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said in a statement that during the meeting, she told Trudeau that Trump had “valid concerns” about illegal immigration and drug smuggling at the Canada-U.S. border, and that steps must be immediately taken to deal with it. She said her province would be acting “urgently and decisively” to increase patrols at the border between Montana and Alberta.

Smith also discussed energy with the prime minister, saying Alberta is “uniquely positioned” to meet the energy security needs of a U.S. administration focused on this priority. She said it was therefore “utter foolishness” for the Canadian government to have an energy production cap that would reduce oil exports to the United States.

Quebec Premier François Legault said during the meeting, he asked the prime minister to table a “detailed plan” to secure Canada’s border, but did not receive a clear answer. “But there is hope, because there was support from other premiers as well to go in this direction,” Legault told reporters.

“I think now’s not the time to play at whether it’s true or not that our borders are not secure. I think it’s important that a plan be tabled,” he said.

Legault has previously asked for Quebec to be given expanded powers over immigration in reaction to an influx of asylum-seekers, a request that Trudeau rejected in March.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said he called for Canada to meet NATO’s 2 percent defence spending target, which he said would “show the Americans that we’re a good ally and a trusted partner when it comes to national security,” while also benefitting the province’s aerospace industry and economy. In July, Kinew led the charge calling for Canada to increase military spending, framing it as an “investment in trade” with the United States.

Kinew also called for Ottawa to increase its investment in law enforcement as a way to respond to the Americans’ border concerns. He said drug trafficking has long been a concern in his province, and federal investments in tackling the issue would also benefit Manitoba.

“If we invest in law enforcement here at home and we crack down on drug trafficking, if we’re able to ensure that we have a strong border, if we show the Americans that we’re investing in the Canadian Armed Forces here at home, what’s the downside? These are all priorities that Manitobans support,” Kinew told reporters on Nov. 27.

B.C. Premier David Eby said on social media that Trump’s “unjustified” tariffs threaten Canadian businesses, and said he told the prime minister and premiers that a strong response was needed. “I also spoke to BC business and labour leaders who are united in protecting our amazing province,” he said.