Canadian Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says Trudeau needs to drastically change course amid Trump's 25% tariff threat

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded to President-elect Donald Trump’s threat to slap a 25 percent tariff on all Canadian products encouraging a united “Team Canada approach” from the federal and provincial governments. Official Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre says that won’t be enough and demanded that Trudeau needs to drastically change course with his policies.

Trudeau described a phone conversation he had with Trump after the tariff threat as “a good call” and said, “Obviously we talked about relating on the facts. Talked about how the intense, effective connections within our capacities flow back and forth. We talked about some of the challenges that we can work on together. It was a good call …” Trudeau said as he talked about “laying out the facts and moving forward in constructive ways.”

The prime minister described Canada’s relationship with the US as one that “takes a certain amount of working on” and said the federal government would be “pulling together” with the provinces “on this Team Canada approach.”

“That's where putting aside partisanship [is important]; that's why I reached out to Doug Ford immediately and agreed to have a First Ministers meeting this week to talk about the United States. There’s work to do, but we know how to do it,” Trudeau said.

Conservative leader Poilievre said the passive response from Trudeau would be inadequate because the Canadian economy is teetering on the brink of collapse.” He noted that Canadian trade with the US “is 40 percent of our economy” and said Trump’s proposed 25 percent tariff was “an unjustified threat.” He said neither Trudeau nor Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland should have been surprised about Trump’s words.

"Amazingly," Poilievre said, "everyone else knew something like this could be coming because President Trump had been talking about it for years on the campaign trail. Yet, 20 days ago, Chrystia Freeland said, don't worry. Canada will be fine. Apparently, neither she nor Justin Trudeau were following what the incoming President was saying."

“After nine years of Prime Minister Trudeau, our GDP is smaller than it was when he took office," Poilievre continued. "Per capita is smaller than it was when it took off he took office. In fact, our per capita GDP has dropped more than any other G7 country since the year before COVID. We have the most indebted households. We've had the worst housing inflation. A quarter of our people are in poverty. Two million people line up in food banks. Food prices have risen 37% faster in Canada than in the United States of America. Our economy is teetering on the brink of collapse, and now we face this renewed threat. We need a plan, a plan to put Canada first on the economy and on security,” Poilievre said.

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He urged Trudeau to stop plans for “quadrupling the carbon tax to 61 cents a liter” that he said would “push our economy into a nightmare and a tailspin.” He also said Trudeau needs to cancel natural gas and oil caps that “would see Alberta and Saskatchewan produce 35 percent less energy at a time when we need those jobs.” Poilieve also said Trudeau needs to refrain from any future tax increases, enforce border security, eliminate the softwood lumber tariff with the US and increase defense spending.

Canadian premiers reacted Monday night to the news that President-elect Donald Trump's want to slap 25 percent tariffs on nations that contribute to human smuggling and drug trafficking on America’s borders. That illegal activity has jumped by 500 percent on the US-Canada border since 2022. Trudeau has been detached from policy matters of late with pictures of the prime minister dancing at a Taylor Swift concert in Toronto being seen around the world on the same night as riots broke out near his Montreal riding protesters burning cars, smashing windows and fighting with police.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford, a Conservative, said "A 25 per cent tariff would be devastating to workers and jobs in both Canada and the U.S. The federal government needs to take the situation at our border seriously. We need a Team Canada approach and response—and we need it now. Prime Minister Trudeau must call an urgent meeting with all premiers."