OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took part in a virtual meeting of the Canada-U.S. relations cabinet committee on Friday, as people inside and outside the Liberal caucus call for him to resign as leader.
The committee, which was reinstated after Donald Trump was elected in November, is gathering as his Jan. 20 inauguration quickly approaches.
Trump promised to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports unless both countries meet his demand to beef up security at the American border.
He’s also been taunting Trudeau on social media, suggesting Canada should become the 51st U.S. state and calling Trudeau its governor, while arguing that the U.S. subsidizes Canada through its trade relationship.
A spokesperson from the Prime Minister’s Office said Trudeau is not an official member of the U.S.-Canada relations committee, but his attendance underscores the importance of the committee’s work in protecting Canadian interests.
Its membership and leadership were shuffled after the cabinet shuffle that followed Chrystia Freeland’s resignation from cabinet. Public Safety Minister David McGuinty is now a member of the committee, with Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc replacing Freeland as chair.
Trudeau and LeBlanc travelled to Florida on Nov. 30 to meet with Trump, and several top cabinet ministers met with the Trump team last Friday.
On Friday morning, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May took aim at the incoming Trump administration, emphasizing that Canada will never become the 51st state.
“Honestly, President Trump, get used to it,” May said at a press conference that she said she hoped would be viewed as antagonistic to the Trump administration.
“We love our country. And it’s a country. It’s a nation. And we do not aspire to be (the) 51st state. So let’s not hear it anymore. If it was a joke, it was never funny, and it ends now.”
May said while she doubts her comments will be seen by Trump, she thinks many Canadians want to hear the country’s leaders be more explicit in dismission the ongoing narrative of Canada joining the United States.
May referenced a newspaper column earlier this week by former Liberal MP Clifford Lincoln as such an example.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre also dismissed the notion before the holidays.
On Friday afternoon, Trudeau went to the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa and signed a book of condolences for former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, who died at the age of 100 on Dec. 29. He did not speak to media at the event and has no other public events on his itinerary for Friday.
