OTTAWA — Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland is getting the band back together, seeking to rally a united front and co-ordinate a plan to deal with threats posed by the incoming Donald Trump presidency.
She’s spending her days talking with heads of major industries and various premiers and meeting with members of parties across the political spectrum, mirroring efforts by her government the last time a Trump White House threatened Canada’s national interests.
“We’re going to need to take a real Team Canada approach on all of these issues,” she said at a Friday news conference, following the first meeting of a rejuvenated cabinet committee on Canada-U.S. relations.
She and Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly got up in front of the TV cameras seeking to reassure the public that Canada will be ready and the nation can pull through another white-knuckle ride with Trump in the Oval Office.
The committee was created by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after Trump took office the first time in 2017. It went dormant during President Joe Biden’s term but was revived a little more than 24 hours after Trump’s win was secured.
Speaking in Vancouver Friday, Trudeau said his government’s job will be making sure Trump and his allies know that his policies to protect American jobs can be done in partnership with Canada.
“The Canada-U.S. Committee is a sign that we are ready to tackle some of the new challenges that no doubt the new American administration will put on the on the table for countries around the world, that Canada will be ready to handle,” he said.
The cabinet has wasted no time jumping in with both feet, even though Trump’s second inauguration is still more than two months away.
Freeland’s schedule has been packed with meetings, set up following the Trump victory, with auto-parts manufacturers and steel companies, leaders of Canada’s largest banks and major pension funds. On Saturday it’s Alberta’s oil and gas sector, and next week it’s organized labour groups.
When Canada was locked in trade renegotiations with Trump 1.0, former Conservative leader Rona Ambrose and the late Brian Mulroney were enlisted to help play key roles as trade with Canada came under fire from a self-styled deal-maker president who had campaigned on tearing up NAFTA.
For her part, Joly said she has been reaching out to “many key influencers within the Trump administration” and U.S. Senators to advocate for Canadian interests.
The Canada-U.S. committee is made up of senior ministers co-ordinating Canada’s new U.S. strategy, including Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Immigration Minister Marc Miller, with trade and the border being the two biggest concerns.
