Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne, Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc, Canada’s ambassador to the U.S. Kirsten Hillman and Ontario Premier Doug Ford were in Washington Thursday to meet with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Following the meeting, LeBlanc and Champagne said they could not say much about what was discussed, only that things seem to be headed in the right direction.
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NewsTranscript
00:00What do you make of what you heard?
00:02Listen, I think that everyone agrees that
00:04constructive conversation and dialogue is is a good thing when it comes to how Canada is responding to the United States.
00:11It doesn't sound to me like we are
00:15getting and get necessarily getting to what we want, which you heard there from Minister LeBlanc, is for the tariffs to come off and
00:21for Canada to be able to remove the counter tariffs.
00:25There was a conversation about how
00:28vital steel and aluminum is to the United States. They're trying to obviously make that point to Howard Lutnick.
00:33And I think there was also a conversation about how everyone has to stay united. You know, Doug Ford
00:39had put those tariffs of, or was threatening to put those tariffs of electricity and energy
00:44onto states in the United States. And that wasn't really well received by lots of other provinces who thought that
00:50Doug Ford was sort of going it alone. But it did get them this meeting, right?
00:55It did get them a point of negotiation and in the door to talk to Lutnick.
00:59And I know that officials are going to talk again next week on that front.
01:02Richard?
01:04Yeah, I mean it looked like the Canadian delegation was really putting a positive spin on this meeting with an administration
01:10that's being increasingly hostile towards them.
01:12And we heard from the Finance Minister and Industry Minister really trying to push this message across showing that there's this
01:19integration between the two economies.
01:21But this is sort of a different
01:23communication track because the White House views Canada as a nation that takes advantage of the U.S.
01:28So we'll see how effective this strategy is. But from what we see from this, the meeting lasted about an hour and a half.
01:35We saw Premier Ford, Canada's Ambassador and Federal Finance Minister and Innovation Minister meeting with Howard Lutnick.
01:42But at the end of the day, it doesn't sound like there were any deliverables or any breakthrough on tariffs.
01:47The delegation tried to have this message that they've turned the temperature down and are feeling optimistic.
01:52Take a listen to what Minister Champagne said just moments ago.
02:01Okay, so we don't have that clip, but he essentially talked about how optimistic they are and they feel that they have
02:07just a bit more information on how to deal with this administration when they return home to Canada.
02:13The other thing that I was hoping to get an answer was whether Ontario Premier Doug Ford would
02:19resume his surcharge on electricity flowing into those three border states. He was asked when he left the commerce meeting.
02:26But he also said that they ultimately their goal was to lower those tension
02:31and he does believe that there are some good vibes all around. Take a listen to Doug Ford.
02:36We were having very productive conversations, and it turned out very, very well.
02:41And I just look forward to again, continue communicating next week.
02:46We've got a lot on the table back and forth, but it was very, very good, very civil, very going back and forth.
02:55So I just appreciate the opportunity and I'm grateful that we're able to do this.
03:00So he's grateful and this is a much different tone from we've heard from the Premier from his defiant posturing leading up to this meeting.
03:09Now, Ian, you'll recall Ford threatened to turn off Ontario's electricity into the U.S. to further retaliate against Trump's tariffs.
03:16And of course, that prompted a threat directly from Trump to double Canadian steel and aluminum tariffs.
03:21Both sides eventually backed down. But these actions clearly did not go as planned.
03:26Both sides eventually backed down. But these actions clearly did not go over well with the administration.
03:32In fact, ahead of today's meeting, we heard from Secretary Lutnick essentially give a smackdown of his own to Canada and Doug Ford. Watch this.
03:41You have to remember, Canada exists leaning on our economy. I mean, let's face it.
03:48Why are we doing all this business in Canada if they're not respectful, if they're not thankful and they don't want to do it?
03:55Imagine imagine a provincial leader.
03:58So like the equivalent of a governor deciding that they're going to attack America and put a 25 percent increase on energy prices to teach Donald Trump a lesson.
04:09I guess what happened? He learned the lesson.
04:13Boy, you know, hence one of the questions from the reporters to the Canadian officials was Howard Lutnick the same way in the meeting that he is on U.S.
04:22cable television, or was he a little bit more conciliatory?
04:25You know, Rosie, you watch a lot of these a lot more closely than I do.
04:29As I was watching, I was struck by kind of the multilevel chess that the cabinet ministers and the ambassador had to play here.
04:35That on the one hand, they want to sound tough, especially on the eve of what we expect will be an election campaign.
04:41They also are mindful of how those tough words may be interpreted by the White House.
04:47They seem to have a pretty good rapport with the reporters there.
04:50Dominic LeBlanc, in particular, kind of joking and laughing.
04:53But the questions were tough.
04:54I mean, at the end there, he went from a smile to a kind of stern look when he was asked whether the, you know, the egg marketing board, that whole system might be on the table.
05:05But again, you're more experienced in looking at these kinds of political reactions than I am.
05:10So what was your impression as you saw all of that?
05:13No, I think you're right.
05:14I think that they are trying as best they can to project a couple of things.
05:17First of all, toughness, unity, but also an ability to have a negotiation and a dialogue.
05:25Now, let's remember, though, Ian, that this is all happening on the eve of another prime minister coming into place in Canada.
05:33And those very ministers that you saw there may or may not be in those jobs tomorrow.
05:38They know.
05:39They know what jobs they have already.
05:41They've been told.
05:42The two of them will most certainly be in cabinet, but their jobs may shift in some way.
05:46And so they're juggling a lot of different things here, postures that are going to be needed for the country and also trying to understand how Mark Carney as prime minister will change the dynamic here.
05:59We've heard some of the language that he's used in recent days, saying that he doesn't want to talk to Donald Trump or have a meeting with Donald Trump until there is respect on the table.
06:08What does respect look like for Mark Carney?
06:11Dominic LeBlanc told my colleague David Cochran yesterday that it means to stop saying that we're going to become the 51st state and talk about annexation.
06:18Well, as Richard Wells knows, the president was on about that again today.
06:22So, you know, they're trying to find lines into Trump's White House and the administration with people who are reasonable and are able to have a conversation about what this is really about.
06:34But even if they get clarity on that, there are some lines in the sand for Canada.
06:39And you're quite right.
06:40Supply management.
06:41So the cost of dairy, eggs and poultry in this country is not on the table.
06:45They tried to negotiate that in the last round of NAFTA and it wasn't there either.
06:49It was the last sticking point in those negotiations.
06:52So there's a lot of moving parts here, even more so than there would be normally in large part because of what's going to happen tomorrow.
07:00Richard, I'm going to come back to you in just a sec.
07:02But one last question to you, Rosie.
07:04A smaller cabinet is going to be accompanying the new prime minister when Mark Carney is sworn in tomorrow.
07:11Some people describe it as a war cabinet.
07:14Is that like does do you think the government here is is is feeling like it has to direct all of its efforts at this tariff war?
07:24Or are there other things that are going to be government priorities over the next few weeks besides fighting an election?
07:29Yeah, there will be obviously departments that will still exist, health and things that you need, justice that you require to govern.
07:36But what you'll see tomorrow, Ian, is a consolidation of many departments put under much fewer ministers, maybe 20, maybe a couple more than that.
07:44And so we are seeing already today that some ministers are losing their jobs.
07:48Jean-Yves Duclos will not be in cabinet.
07:51He's a Quebec minister of procurement.
07:53He will not be in cabinet tomorrow.
07:56Diane Lepoutier, another Quebec minister, says she will not.
07:59She will not be there, but she is going to run again.
08:02And we're hearing of some changes.
08:04Stephen Guilbault, the minister of environment, will be in cabinet tomorrow, but he will not have that portfolio.
08:09He'll have something else.
08:10However, Melanie Jolie, the minister of foreign affairs, she will stay in that job.
08:14And you can see why.
08:16It is going to be really critically important to have some of these people in these top roles stay in those roles or within that realm, at least,
08:24so that they can continue to deal with Donald Trump.
08:26Because, again, you're right, this is, yes, about creating Mark Carney's first cabinet as prime minister,
08:32but it is also the cabinet that is going to bring him into an election campaign.
08:36So he needs to send a strong signal to Donald Trump in terms of this country's approach and also to Canadians.
08:42Because if the main issue, the ballot box question, is going to be who is best positioned to take on Donald Trump,
08:48Mark Carney has to start answering that very question tomorrow.
08:51And Richard, last reflection from you after listening to the news conference?
08:56Yeah, well, the prime minister-designate has a lot of work to do with this government
09:01because we heard President Trump today taking even more shots at Canada.
09:06He even questioned its very existence.
09:08And Trump went on this rant as he was seated beside NATO's secretary-general in the Oval Office.
09:14And what was surprising there, not only what the president was saying about Canada,
09:18is that Mark Rutte, who heads up NATO, listened silently as Trump called to erase the Canada-U.S. border
09:25and annex a sovereign country that's also a NATO member.
09:29I want you to listen to this.
09:31You have to run your own country.
09:33And to be honest with you, Canada only works as a state.
09:36We don't need anything they have.
09:39As a state, it would be one of the great states anyway.
09:42This would be the most incredible country visually.
09:45If you look at a map, they drew an artificial line right through it between Canada and the U.S.
09:51Just a straight artificial line.
09:53Somebody did it a long time ago, many, many decades ago.
09:57And it makes no sense.
10:00So we have Trump here really upping those stakes and pushing for Canada to become the 51st state.
10:06And all this comes as Trump's new incoming ambassador to Canada
10:10delicately pushed back against it at his confirmation hearing, saying he believes Canada is a sovereign state.
10:16And Ian, the fact that in itself is a newsworthy statement reflects the uncertain era we're living in.
10:22Yeah, uncertain to say the least.
10:24Richard Madden, Rosemary Barton, thanks to both of you.
10:27You bet.