Canadian Prime Ministers Urge Trudeau to Strengthen Border Security After Trump’s Tariff Threat

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(Bloomberg) — Canada’s premiers are urging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to increase spending on border security and defense to ease the concerns of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, the leader of Canada’s largest province calling the federal government “slow to react” and “stuck on its back foot.”

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Doug Ford of Ontario said after a meeting of the premier and premier on Wednesday that he has been pressing the Trudeau government for months to show that Canada cares about America’s economic and security problems. He said it hasn’t moved fast enough.

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“I expressed my hope that tonight’s meeting is the beginning of a strong approach from the federal government, including showing that the security of our border is a top priority,” Ford said in a statement. Otherwise, he said, it risks “the economic chaos of Trump’s tariffs.”

The sharp statement, sent after a meeting where Trudeau hoped to unite prime ministers under the banner of “Team Canada” to oppose the threat of tariffs, underscored the biggest challenge for the prime minister during Trump’s second administration. While Trudeau was new to office and popular for the first time, that’s no longer the case — and he’s facing a group of prime ministers who have their own complaints about his policies.

Ford was joined by Quebec Premier Francois Legault, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew, who all issued statements calling for tougher government action. Legault, for his part, has long-standing concerns about immigrants entering his state from the US, while Smith took the opportunity to criticize Trudeau’s divestment from the oil and gas sector.

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Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc walked out of the Prime Minister’s meeting to emphasize that they plan to strengthen border security. LeBlanc said that would include investments in law enforcement and local police, but did not provide specific dollar amounts or timelines.

There is a need for “visible and public-facing measures” at the border, LeBlanc said. “The plan is here, it’s coming, and we’re going to assure Canadians and Americans that people are local.”

“Now is not the time to quarrel between us,” said Freeland. “There was strong agreement among everyone on the call that this is a challenge. The way we meet that challenge and the way we serve Canadians is by being strong, smart and united and by playing for Team Canada.”

Trudeau called the meeting this week after several state leaders raised the alarm about Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on Canada and Mexico unless the countries stop the flow of fentanyl and undocumented immigrants across their borders – even though these problems are largely restricted in Mexico.

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On Wednesday, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum spoke by phone with Trump, telling him that her country has already barred immigrants from reaching the US border. Trump later wrote on Truth Social that Sheinbaum “agreed to stop immigration through Mexico, and into the United States, effectively closing our Southern border.” (Trump did not post about his phone call with Trudeau earlier this week.)

Canadian prime ministers have all called for more money to be spent on law enforcement. Alberta and Ontario leaders have promised to use local police to strengthen border security, while Manitoba premier Kinew said the federal government told him he would get new resources.

Kinew also forced Canada to spend at least 2% of its gross domestic product on the military, a target it agreed to as a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. On Monday, Trudeau also said in his speech that the country will reach the target by 2032.

Ford and other prime ministers have called on Canada to negotiate with the US if necessary, a move that would exclude Mexico from the current regional trade agreement, due to its economic ties with China. Although Trudeau has also expressed concern about Mexico’s trade with China, he said he prefers to keep the trilateral trade agreement in place and sees Mexico as a “strong partner.”

—Courtesy of Brian Platt.

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