Cabinet ministers involved in foreign relations did not publicly express a preference for the outcome of the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 5, saying the government is ready to deal with whoever accedes to the White House.
As American voters head to the polls, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said it is an “important day,” with many Canadians paying attention to developments south of the border.
“Of course, as a government, we will be ready,” Joly told reporters in Ottawa. “We will let the American people decide who they want in the Oval Office.”
Ottawa has been preparing for months for the next U.S. administration, sending delegations across the country to promote and strengthen ties with various states and industries.
“We have now a relationship that goes deep at different levels of the American society—may be at the local level, may be at the state level, or again, at the federal level,” said Joly.
With this strategy, and their experience dealing with past Democrat and Republican administrations, the Liberal government says it is well-placed to handle whatever comes next.
Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne, who is involved in supply chain issues with the U.S., said the work done by his government has helped shape how Canada is perceived down south.
“We’ve moved from the good neighbour to the north to the strategic partner that they need in the 21st century,” he told reporters on Nov. 5.
Champagne this past summer shed some light on Ottawa’s strategy to make inroads across the political aisle in the United States. He said it involves talking business when meeting with Republicans and policy with the Democrats.
“The good thing is that when we talk to our Republican friends, they say ‘we like you because you talk business,’ and when we talk to Democrats, they say ‘we like you because you align on policy,'” Champagne told reporters in August.
The Canadian government’s strategy has focused on the themes of security, supply chains, and economic growth.
Asked about Trump’s pledge to impose tariffs as a way shore up domestic manufacturing in the U.S., Joly said her government is ready for any scenario and noted how it went through the NAFTA renegotiations during the Trump administration.
The numbers flip under a Harris administration, with 37 percent of respondents saying Trudeau would do a better job, compared to 30 percent for Poilievre.
