OTTAWA — Ontario Premier Doug Ford urged his colleagues to put the country first as the premiers sat down with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday to hash out a response to U.S. president-elect Donald Trump and his threat to impose potentially devastating tariffs on Canada.
"Part of being Team Canada means recognizing and respecting each other's provinces and territories," Ford said. "But nothing is more important than the country."
Trudeau opened the meeting in Ottawa pledging that Finance and Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc will walk the premiers through the government's "massive" border plan.
"It features three main issues: first of all, the joint fight against illegal drugs, particularly fentanyl," Trudeau said, adding that this is one of the key issues for the incoming Trump administration.
The other two issues are the joint management of border security and "ensuring the continued integrity of our immigration system," he said.
Trump initially said the 25 per cent tariffs were being imposed in response to drugs and illegal immigration crossing the shared border, but has since pivoted to citing the United States' trade deficit with Canada.
The first ministers are set to turn their attention to potential responses to the tariffs in the second half of the meeting, Trudeau said, adding that the group has been united in standing up for the national interest.
The premiers are divided when it comes to how the country ought to respond, however.
Ford, in his opening remarks, said he's a strong believer in retaliatory tariffs.
"You can't let someone hit you in the head with a sledgehammer without hitting them back twice as hard, in my opinion," he said.
Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey told reporters Wednesday morning that Canada should make sure the U.S. is aware of its critical reliance on Canadian energy but not pull back on those exports just yet.
Furey, whose province is an oil producer, said Canada must have a proportional response ready but should not play its hand too early by blocking or limiting energy exports to the U.S.
"I see energy as Canada's queen in this game of chess," he said. "We don't need to expose our queen this early. The opposition needs to know that the queen exists but they don't need to know what we're going to do with the queen."
Quebec Premier Francois Legault said Canada should have options prepared if Trump follows through on that threat, as most premiers expect he will.
Both Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith have rejected the idea of any measures that would affect Canada's energy exports to the United States.
“When you look at the pipeline system, how oil is actually transported into the U.S. and back to Canada … it would be very, very difficult and I think impossible operationally to even consider that," Moe said.
“Politically, it would be more divisive than anything this Liberal government enacted, in way of policies, in the last nine years."
When asked about the idea of cutting off or limiting energy exports to the U.S., Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said he doesn't want to see actions taken that undermine national unity.
Kinew said Canada should carefully craft its response to the tariff threat.
“The party that is in a rush to conclude their negotiations typically gives up their leverage in the process. So, I understand there’s a lot of economic uncertainty right now, but we need a steady hand," he said.
Canada is the top supplier of foreign oil to the U.S. and accounts for about one-fifth of its oil supply.
Ford, currently the chair of the premiers' association known as the Council of the Federation, showed up to the meeting sporting a blue baseball hat bearing the message "Canada is not for sale" — a reference to Trump's repeated claims that he wants to annex Canada into the U.S. using "economic force."
"President Trump wants to devastate Canada," Ford said. "That's unacceptable."
Ford estimated that the tariffs could cost 500,000 jobs in Ontario alone.
Prince Edward Island Premier Dennis King recently concluded a tour of the northeastern United States to talk about exports from his province.
King said the threatened tariffs could cost his province 25 per cent of its GDP and upwards of 1,400 jobs.
"When you come from a place like Prince Edward Island, that’s catastrophic," he said.
When asked about the prospect of Ottawa issuing bailouts to help provinces with the tariff threat, King said nothing can be ruled out.
“All options have to be on the table, and they are, but I do think that if there are countermeasures that they put in place, then all that money should be dispersed across the country to help provinces and help companies react," King said.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith met with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort over the weekend. She was attending the meeting Wednesday virtually, as was British Columbia Premier David Eby.
Trump and his allies have been peppering Canada with taunts about making it the 51st state since Trudeau and LeBlanc made their own trip to Mar-a-Lago.
Kinew said Canada needs to pass the "locker room test" in these negotiations.
"Fifty-first state, you’ve got to chirp back. Where are our chirps? This is not just a trade war, this is also a meme war. And have we been showing that ability to chirp back? I don’t know," he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 15, 2025.
David Baxter and Sarah Ritchie, The Canadian Press
