Members of Parliament held an emergency debate this week to discuss the threat of tariffs from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, with calls for unity competing against political attacks on adversaries.
Amid appeals for a unified approach on the matter, some MPs blamed past and current policies for the predicament Canada is facing.
Canadian officials have been scrambling after Trump said on Nov. 25 that he would impose a 25 percent tariff on all goods coming from Canada and Mexico until each country tackles immigration and drug smuggling issues.
Trump said he would impose the measures on day one of his administration in late January.
Canada ‘United’
Much of the pressure from Trump’s threat falls on Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, who currently chairs a special cabinet committee to deal with the matter. Freeland as foreign affairs minister had steered the North American Free Trade Agreement renegotiations for Canada during Trump’s first term.Freeland boasted the strength of the relationship with the United States during the House debate and said border security and integrity is her government’s “highest priority.”
She said Canada sells to the United States “things it really needs,” including oil, electricity, and critical minerals and metals.
“Last year, 60 percent of U.S. crude oil imports originated in Canada, and the energy the United States imports from Canada is more important today than ever, at a time when we see how hungry AI [artificial intelligence] is for energy and how important AI is in the economic vision of the new U.S. administration,” she said.
Freeland said a “Team Canada” approach is needed to deal with the tariff threat. “This is a moment when Canada needs to be united.”
Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre said Trump has the right to put Americans first with his policies but that the Conservatives will put Canadians first.
“That includes maintaining the most successful trade relationship the world has ever seen,” Poilievre told the House of Commons.
Poilievre also said it is wrong to call for Canada to diversify its trade partners, noting how China’s economy is slowing down due to a “return to socialist, centralized, government-planned policies.”
“That has slowed growth in China, while American capitalism has continued to generate wealth,” he said. “That is the reality. Even if some oppose it for ideological reasons, no economic force in the world is more powerful than American capitalism.”
The Tory leader said the tariff threat comes at a time when Canada’s economy is weakened, and he called for tax cuts instead of tax increases to boost competitiveness.
Bloc Québécois MP Mario Simard criticized Poilievre for his reference to putting “Canada first.”
“That is going to be the new mantra of the Conservative leader, who thinks that complex problems can be resolved with incantations. It is rather shocking,” he said.
On the issue of tariffs, Simard said Quebec has never been favoured in trade negotiations, not being an oil-producing province or having a significant auto manufacturing sector. He noted how Quebec’s forestry industry is already penalized by U.S. tariffs on softwood lumber.
“Finally, as for the infamous issue that Mr. Trump raised about the border, we must admit that border management is a disaster,” he said.
The Quebec government and the Bloc have been vocal about immigration issues as the province became a key crossing and landing point for migrants seeking asylum in recent years.
NDP MP Brian Masse of Windsor West said Trump’s threat is a “bullying tactic” that Canada has faced before and comes at a time when Canadians are “feeling the pinch” economically due to inflation.
There are concerns that the tariffs would reduce Canada’s economic output considerably and cause job losses.
“As New Democrats, we believe we are going to have to exercise our full strength on this,” Masse said, advocating for a strategy involving labour unions and civil society.
“There needs to be a war room and an actual strategy with measurables, which would involve more than just the leaders of the provinces and the prime minister, or a small cabal of the Liberal cabinet undertaking some of those issues the government believes are important, to deal with this,” Masse added.
The NDP said Canada’s border issues shouldn’t be lumped in with Mexico’s, adding the United States has been “politicizing” the border for some time.
