Justin Trudeau ready to work with both sides

Photo: Adrian Wyld The Canadian Press Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he is willing to work with both Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican former President Donald Trump.

Shortly before the first polls closed in the United States, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was willing to work with both Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican former President Donald Trump.

“My job as prime minister has always been to work with whoever the Americans elect as president, but most importantly to be there to defend Canadian values, interests and jobs,” Trudeau said Tuesday afternoon, before question period in Ottawa.

This is the approach that several of his ministers have also adopted as they await the election results in our neighbours to the south.

“We will let the American people decide who they want in the Oval Office. In the meantime, we have been preparing for this for months through our diplomatic network in the United States, but also around the world,” Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said Tuesday morning.

According to Ms. Joly, the Trudeau government's “strength of experience” will ensure good collaboration with the next government, regardless of the outcome of the election. “We've dealt with the Obama administration, the Trump administration and the Biden administration. And, through that, we've also gone through different types of congresses. We now have a deep relationship with several levels of American society,” she added.

Since the beginning of the year, the Canadian government has deployed a major diplomatic operation in the United States, including the establishment of a “Team Canada” responsible for defending the country's interests in view of the American elections. The latter met with more than 1,300 people — including 46 of the 50 governors and 70 of the 100 U.S. senators — in 23 states and the District of Columbia, as well as nine Canadian provinces, the office of the federal Minister of Innovation, François-Philippe Champagne, told Devoir.

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The Question of Customs Tariffs

This diplomatic offensive by Ottawa has been imposed in a context where the next American government could adopt protectionist measures likely to harm the Canadian economy.

If re-elected, Donald Trump plans to impose 10% tariffs on all imports to the United States. Many experts also expect Kamala Harris to maintain the Biden administration’s protectionist trade policy.

Canada is, however, in a good position to negotiate with its southern neighbour if tariffs are imposed, assures Minister François-Philippe Champagne, one of the ministers responsible for Team Canada. “We have been trading with our American neighbours for over a century. We are aware of the issues, but what is different today is that our American partners need Canada in strategic supply chains,” he explained Tuesday as he headed to the cabinet meeting.

In an interview with Le DevoirOn Monday, Canada’s ambassador to the United States, Kirsten Hillman, also assured that she had “the contacts and the tools necessary” to negotiate with Mr. Trump.

On Tuesday, the leader of the official opposition, Pierre Poilievre, took advantage of his first intervention in question period to criticize the Trudeau government’s negotiating skills. “Just 80 days after becoming prime minister, Stephen Harper reached an agreement to end softwood lumber tariffs. This Liberal prime minister capitulated and allowed Donald Trump to impose them and Mr. Biden to double them,” he declared in the House of Commons.

Mr. Trudeau retorted that it was rather the former Canadian prime minister who “encouraged him to capitulate” during the negotiations on the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) so as “not to offend the Americans.” “We stood up to protect supply management, aluminum workers and Canadian jobs from one end of the country to the other,” he said.

Preparing for a migration crisis

Should Donald Trump be re-elected, Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet believes that it is “credible” to anticipate a significant wave of migration to Canada. “I would understand people who are on American soil who, without further ado, are threatened with being expelled under the authority of a president who has made it one of his most demagogic arguments,” he said Tuesday afternoon at a press briefing.

Donald Trump has promised to carry out the largest deportation of illegal immigrants in U.S. history. About 11 million undocumented immigrants were living in the United States in 2022, or 3.3% of the country’s total population.

Blanchet hopes the government has begun to prepare for any eventuality. “I suspect they wouldn’t want to let something this big come to our border without some minimal management measures,” he said.

On Tuesday morning, Immigration Minister Marc Miller declined to comment on how the Canadian government plans to deal with an influx of migrants at the border, saying he doesn’t want to “participate” in any “speculation” about the election outcome in the United States. “There's always work to do to make sure that the border is secure. No matter who's president, […] it's in the interest of both countries to make sure that the border is well managed, and it is right now,” he said.

Caution in Quebec

Like those in Ottawa, politicians in the National Assembly have chosen to remain cautious.

Quebec Minister of International Relations and La Francophonie Martine Biron said she would not comment until the results are known, “out of respect” for the Americans. However, she added that she hoped that “as many people as possible will vote.”

The leader of the Parti Québécois, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, also did not want to comment on the consequences of potential protectionist measures on Quebec. “My school is not to comment [in advance] and to let the Americans make their choice. When we are faced with one government or another that [arrives] with a will, then we will be able to [react],” he declared at a press briefing.

Unlike her counterparts, Québec solidaire MNA Ruba Ghazal said she was “extremely concerned” about a possible re-election of Donald Trump. “For women's rights, it will be a major setback, not only for American women, but it could also contaminate us here, in Canada and in Quebec. »

With Marco Bélair-Cirino and Isabelle Porter