Photo: Sean Kilpatrick The Canadian Press Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Donald Trump arrive to participate in a plenary session at the NATO summit in Watford, Hertfordshire, England, December 2019.
Marco Bélair-Cirino
11:00
- Canada
Canada is preparing for a possible return of Donald Trump to the White House.
“We are going to be ready, whatever the Americans choose” on November 5, declared the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly, while calling herself “pragmatic”.
The head of Canadian diplomacy refrained from detailing the preparations required for a possible re-election of Donald Trump, who currently seems unstoppable in his race for the Republican nomination.
The Canadian government will “work” with “the entire country”, including the provincial premiers, business and union groups, as well as several allied countries of Canada, she was content to say in less than 10 months upcoming presidential elections in the United States.
“As a government, we have in the past been able to manage different types of administration, whether Republican or Democratic. So, we will be ready,” she added on the sidelines of a Cabinet meeting in Montreal on Monday, after describing the United States as Canada’s “greatest ally” and “best friend.”
His predecessor François-Philippe Champagne recalls having “already played in this film” starring Donald Trump in the company of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Minister of Finance, Chrystia Freeland, in particular. The Trudeau government had to negotiate a new United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA), which resulted, according to Mr. Champagne, in “record investments.” “It should give confidence to the people who are watching us because we were there,” he argued a few hours before the Republican primary in the state of New Hampshire.
The current Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry maintains that Canada “is more integrated” with the United States “than it has ever been”, which would necessarily curb the protectionist impulses of a new Trump administration. “You have economic integration that I think is going to be an asset for Canada and the United States. Because there, if it was true that there were millions of jobs that depended on both sides, it's going to be even more true,” he said, pointing to the biomanufacturing, semi- conductors and batteries.
The possible victory of former President Donald Trump over former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley during the Republican primaries, then over Democratic President Joe Biden during the presidential elections, does not pose a problem “not a matter of fear,” but rather “a matter of preparation,” he concluded.