Conservative leader to Trump: ‘Canada will never be the 51st state’
By Stephanie Ha
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OTTAWA (CTV Network) — Canadian Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre is responding to U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s ongoing suggestions that Canada become the 51st state, saying it will “never happen.”
“I have the strength and the smarts to stand up for this country and my message to incoming President Trump is that first and foremost, Canada will never be the 51st state of the U.S.,” Poilievre said in an interview with CTV’s Your Morning on Friday.
Since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s surprise trip to Mar-a-Lago at the end of November to discuss Trump’s threat to impose a 25 per cent tariff on all Canadian imports, Trump has made repeated posts to social media referring to Canada as America’s “51st state” and calling the prime minister “Governor Justin Trudeau.”
Most recently, Trump posted to Truth Social on Wednesday, writing “Many Canadians want Canada to become the 51st State. They would save massively on taxes and military protection. I think it is a great idea. 51st State!!!”
Asked if he thinks Trump’s comments are funny, Poilievre said, “No, I don’t. I think it’s an example of how Justin Trudeau is a total joke. He’s lost control of everything.”
Trudeau has yet to respond directly to Trump’s jabs, but other federal officials have so far downplayed them.
Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc was asked by reporters on Thursday about the ongoing comments, saying Trump is “quite active on social media” but “our government’s job is not to respond to everything that President Trump’s going to post.”
Earlier this week, Ontario Premier Doug Ford rebuked Trump’s comments, saying Canada will “never be the 51st state.”
Former deputy prime minister and Quebec Premier Jean Charest, meanwhile, is calling Trump’s remarks a “wake-up call.”
“We don’t need to react to what Mr. Trump says every time he tweets. We know the modus operandi. He hits us over the head, gets a reaction, takes whatever we give him, and then negotiates,” Charest said in an interview with CTV’s Power Play on Wednesday. “But he is nonetheless sending us a pretty powerful message about ourselves and that we have to get ourselves organized.”
How would Poilievre respond to Trump’s tariff threat?
When asked directly by host Anne-Marie Mediwake about how he would approach Trump and his tariff threat, Poilievre said he believes Canada and the U.S. “have overlapping interests and values.”
“He wants a deal, and my belief is that he wants America to win. There’s no question, but I want to show him that Canada can win at the same time,” Poilievre said.
Asked repeatedly by Mediwake about what pressure points he’s willing to push the U.S. on in a potential negotiation, Poilievre said, “We’re not going to compromise anything to hurt our country’s security or economy, period. And we shouldn’t have to because our interests are aligned.”
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Poilievre later added that he would “have to respond with counter-tariffs that will hurt on the American side.”
Conservative MP Javil Jivani has met with U.S. vice-president-elect JD Vance since the tariff threat was made. Jivani has been friends with Vance since they both attended Yale University, and Jivani spoke at Vance’s wedding.
When asked about whether he has a relationship with Trump, Poilievre said, “I don’t have one right now because I’m not the prime minister.”
“I’ve been very conscientious about putting the country first and avoiding dividing the message,” Poilievre said.
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