Poilievre Chimes In on Trump’s 51st State Comments

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre holds a press conference in Ottawa on Dec. 1, 2024. The Canadian Press/Justin Tang

Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre says a Canadian prime minister should tell U.S. President-elect Donald Trump that “Canada will never be the 51st state.”

Trump’s persistent jabs at Canada and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau indicate that the incoming president is seeking to capitalize on what he perceives as the vulnerabilities of the Liberal government for his own benefit, Poilievre told The Toronto Sun in an exclusive interview.

“That’s why we need a strong, smart prime minister who has the brains and backbone to first and foremost say to President Trump, Canada will never be the 51st state,” Poilievre said. “We will be an independent, proud, sovereign country, as we always have been.”

“President Trump has always put America first. Well, I will always put Canada first,” Poilievre added.

Poilievre’s comments follow a week of what he has called “chaos” for the governing Liberals since Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s Dec. 16 resignation.

Freeland published her resignation letter to social media on the day she stepped down in which she openly criticized Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s policies.

The letter accused Trudeau of prioritizing “costly political gimmicks” over addressing Trump’s threat to slap a 25 percent tariff on all Canadian goods unless Ottawa tightens border security to prevent the flow of illegal migrants and drugs into the United States.

Freeland’s dramatic exit from cabinet has strengthened calls for Trudeau’s resignation from within the Liberal caucus.

Trudeau has also been the target of jokes made by Trump over the past month. The president-elect has called Trudeau the “governor” of “the Great State of Canada” on more than one occasion and has repeatedly said Canada should join the United States as a “51st state.”

Trump claimed in a Dec. 18 Truth Social post that “many Canadians want Canada to become the 51st State,” adding that Canadians would “save massively on taxes and military protection” if they joined his country.

He has even posted an AI-generated image on social media of himself standing atop a mountain with a Canadian flag flying, with the caption “Oh Canada.”

Trudeau has clapped back at Trump by calling the recent defeat of U.S. presidential candidate Kamala Harris an attack on women’s rights and women’s progress.

He has also suggested Americans may come to regret who they elected.

“I think there’s a number of folks in different countries, and I won’t point out any particular one, where folks are going to be wondering about the choice they maybe made in elections,” he said in a Dec. 9 speech.

Different Approach

Poilievre said it is time for Ottawa to cease its confrontational approach toward the incoming U.S. president and instead focus on fixing border security.

Poilievre acknowledged there are issues with illegal immigration from Canada to the United States as well as challenges concerning illicit drugs, but said these are issues Canada should strive to fix regardless of the tariff threat.

“The president has raised some reasonable concerns about the broken liberal border and our military, and I would respond by saying, we do need to reinforce our border with drones, helicopters, boots on the ground, and other high-performing technology to keep drugs and guns from crossing, to stop human trafficking,” Poilievre told The Sun.

“I want to secure our border, not to please President Trump or any American, but to save our own families.”

The Conservative leader has long criticized Trudeau for failing to address rising crime rates. One of Poilievre’s most famous slogans is “Axe the tax. Build the homes. Fix the budget. Stop the crime.”

He has also criticized the government for failing to take a harder stance on illicit drugs, blaming Ottawa’s lack of border security and so-called safer drug supply for the rise in opioid addictions and the more than 47,000 deaths linked to fentanyl overdoses.

Poilievre said it’s a problem Canada needs to get a handle on.

“We need to lock up the drug kingpins and shut down their money laundering networks for Canada,” he said. “I mean, even if Trump weren’t saying this, we should do these things.”