Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will convene a meeting with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and the other opposition party leaders on Parliament Hill on Tuesday to brief them on his visit to Florida to meet with president-elect Donald Trump and some of his incoming cabinet secretaries.
This meeting, one of the first times Trudeau and Poilievre have met face-to-face in a setting like this, comes as Canada stares down Trump’s promised 25 per cent tariffs on its goods — a scheme that has the potential to devastate this country’s economy.
The meeting is expected around 1 p.m. ET today, before question period.
Trudeau and the small Canadian contingent, which included Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, met with Trump for what was largely a social evening at Mar-a-Lago, but also included talk of the tariffs and what Canada can do to harden the border to stop the flow of drugs and migrants.
Minister of Public Safety Dominic LeBlanc provides insider insight into the Mar-a-Lago dinner between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. president-elect Donald Trump as Canada seeks to counter the proposed 25 per cent tariff threat.
After Trump first uttered the tariff threat last week, Canada has already committed to procuring more helicopters and drones to keep a better watch over the border.
While the flow of migrants and illegal drugs over the northern border is a fraction of what crosses over from Mexico, Trump is still concerned with what’s coming from Canada — just as Canadian officials are concerned about drugs and guns flowing north.
Trudeau and his team received no assurances that Canada would be exempt from Trump’s promised tariffs at the Friday night dinner.
But former advisors to the president have said Trudeau’s visit to the Florida estate was something of a diplomatic coup, because the incoming president values personal relationships with other world leaders.
