Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Wednesday that U.S. president-elect Donald Trump is intent on devastating Canada economically with his punishing tariffs and he urged the country to take a scorched earth approach against the United States in response, if necessary.
Speaking to reporters before a meeting with the other premiers and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Ottawa, Ford said everything should be on the table as Canada prepares to retaliate against the U.S. with Trump expected to impose a tariff of up to 25 per cent on all of our goods in the coming days.
“When they attack our country, when they attack our people, when they attack the jobs of hard-working Canadians, you cannot sit back and say, ‘Keep on attacking,'” he said. “You have to hit back with every single tool in our toolbox.”
Ford, who was wearing a “Canada is not for sale” baseball hat as entered the talks, has already said he is prepared to withhold energy exports to the U.S., which could leave some 1.5 million Americans in a bind given how reliant some states are on the province for electricity.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has said if the federal government imposes an export ban on Alberta oil going to the United States as a retaliatory measure against expected Trump tariffs, it would prompt a “national unity crisis.”
“Oil and gas is owned by the provinces, principally Alberta, and we won’t stand for that,” Smith said Monday. “I can’t predict what Albertans would do.”
During a news conference in Toronto alongside Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc is asked if the federal government is considering the restriction of oil from Alberta to the United States in retaliation to possible tariffs. LeBlanc says the government has to see what the U.S. does, but added that it has to be ready to deploy all necessary measures to defend the Canadian economy.
Late last year, Smith said “under no circumstances” will Alberta cut off its oil and gas exports to the U.S.
Asked about Smith’s opposition to stopping the flow of oil south to the U.S. as part of a trade war, Ford said all of the provinces must band together to exert maximum pressure on Trump and that should include the possibility of stopping oil and natural gas trade with the U.S.
“These are the tools that we have. You do not negotiate through weakness — you negotiate through strength. We need to make sure that we have tough retaliatory tariffs to defend the country. Nothing is more important than the country.”
Ford said it doesn’t make sense to rule out withholding oil at this stage in the negotiations.
Oil could be a crucial bargaining chip for Canada — the country exports roughly four million barrels south to the U.S. every day. Many U.S. refineries are almost entirely dependent on heavy crude oil from Canada and any disruption to that supply could have many knock-on effects to the American economy.
“When we are defending the country, we do not roll over. You are in a card game, you don’t show your opposition the cards,” Ford said.
Tariffs would devastate Canadian economy
Canada’s response to the tariff threat is at the centre of Wednesday’s first ministers’ meeting, which the premiers requested to get a better sense of what Ottawa has planned for the weeks ahead.
Most of the 13 premiers are in the country’s capital, while Smith and B.C. Premier David Eby, are joining the conversation virtually.
Trump is set to take office on Jan. 20 and then quickly implement his campaign commitment to levy punishing tariffs on imports from some countries, including Canada, to try to prompt a crackdown on illegal drugs and migrants coming into the U.S.
Economists have said the expected 25 per cent tariff would be devastating to the Canadian economy, shaving billions of dollars off of the GDP and putting some crucial industries in jeopardy.
Ford said Tuesday “it’s not going to be good” if Trump does what he’s said he will do, and as many as 500,000 people in Ontario alone could be out of a job if a broad-based tariff scheme is implemented. The government may have to spend billions of dollars in stimulus to shore up a shaky economy, he said.
To appease Trump’s demands, Ottawa has drawn up a border security plan that Trudeau is expected to share with the premiers at Wednesday’s meeting.
Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who has taken the lead on Canada-U.S. matters, showed parts of the border plan to Ford on Tuesday ahead of the larger meeting with other provincial and territorial leaders.
The premier, who is also serving as the chair of the Council of the Federation, told reporters that what he saw was “phenomenal” and called it “a solid, solid plan.”
Ottawa is planning to deploy more border and RCMP personnel along the 49th parallel, put more drones and helicopters in the sky over the border and fund the creation of some 80 new K-9 units to better search for drugs like fentanyl at land crossings, among other initiatives, LeBlanc said.
If Trump isn’t satisfied with that plan and goes ahead with tariffs anyway, Canada is also preparing to fight back with possible retaliatory tariffs on everything from Florida orange juice and Kentucky bourbon to Pennsylvania steel, sources have told CBC News.
LeBlanc said everything is on the table as Canada braces for a trade war that could get ugly.
He has not ruled out stopping the flow of Canadian oil south into the U.S., he said.
“We want to see what the American action is next week, if it comes next week,” he said. “I think we need to be ready to deploy all necessary measures.”
Premiers make their case to Americans
Since Trump’s election in November, many of the premiers have fanned out across the U.S. to try to convince Americans it’s a bad idea to take on Canada given the two economies are so intertwined.
A series of ads bankrolled by Ontario have been blanketing the U.S. airwaves for weeks, touting the value of a close Canada-U.S. relationship.
Trump hosted Smith at his Mar-a-Lago estate over the weekend.
Smith said they had a “friendly and constructive” conversation and she stressed that her province’s vast oil reserves are crucial to North American energy security and the continent’s gas prices.
But Smith said she got no indication that Trump is rethinking his plan to slap tariffs on Canadian goods, which she said is motivated by his animosity over the U.S. trade deficit with Canada.
That trade deficit is largely driven by strong U.S. demand for Canadian oil and natural gas, which it buys at a discount relative to world prices for those commodities.
As part of their campaign to neutralize the trade threat, the premiers have had to push back against misleading information propagated by Trump and his surrogates who have misconstrued the bilateral trade deficit data and exaggerated illegal immigrant figures.
They have also had to contend with Trump’s rhetoric about trying to annex Canada as the 51st state.
Trudeau, who is a lame duck prime minister after announcing his intention to resign last week amid internal party pressure, will lead Canada through what is expected to be a tumultuous time until the Liberal Party picks its new leader in early March.
In addition to his meeting with the premiers, Trudeau has announced he will convene a cabinet retreat in Quebec next week to continue drawing up some sort of plan for Canada as it faces such a serious economic threat.
“Our government is unwaveringly focused on protecting and defending Canadian interests. With the threat of tariffs from the incoming United States administration, Team Canada will use expanded capabilities to strengthen Canada’s relationship with the U.S., protect Canadian investment and jobs and make unequivocally clear the mutually beneficial relationship our two countries share,” Trudeau said in a media statement.
Canadian business and labour groups are also mobilizing in the face of the Trump threat.
The Canada-U.S Trade Council (CUSTC) has just launched with a plan to convene regular meetings to share information and ideas for how best to approach the expected tariff war and the subsequent new NAFTA review phase.
The trade council will draw on advice from advisers including Steve Verheul, Canada’s former top trade negotiator, cross-border experts like Laura Dawson and past politicos like James Moore and Jean Charest.