Trudeau talks Canada with president-elect
OTTAWA • Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday that he and president-elect Donald Trump are off to a “strong beginning” anchored by the long, constructive relationship between Canada and the United States.
The two men spoke for a short time by telephone late Wednesday.
“Our conversation last night was brief,” Trudeau said in Sydney, N.S. where he marked the opening of a Veterans Affairs service office that had been closed by the Harper government. “I congratulated him for his victory. He expressed warmth toward Canada.
“I talked about how important the relationship is and has been, that I look forward to continuing to promote Canadian interests and, indeed, opportunities for all as we move forward as two countries that have a lot to do together. It was a brief call but a strong beginning to what is going to be a constructive relationship.”
Trudeau was asked how he explained the worst aspects of Trump’s behaviour during the campaign — his occasional bigotry, misogyny, and racism — to his seven-year-old daughter Ella-Grace. The PM did not respond and restricted his comments to their official relationship.
“It’s important that the prime minister and the president have a constructive working relationship,” he said.
Trudeau, his closest advisers and inner circle of cabinet ministers have been considering how Trump’s ascent could affect his legislative, economic and environmental agenda.
For example, Trump has threatened to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement, which voluntarily committed most of the developed world to greenhouse gas reduction targets. Trump has no plans to bring in any form of carbon pricing and will push to boost the U.S.’s oil and gas production.
Ottawa, on the other hand, has insisted all provinces will tax production of greenhouse gas emissions. On Thursday, Trudeau did not back away from that commitment.
“One of the things that people in Canada, and indeed around the world, understand is that there is tremendous economic disadvantage from not acting in the fight against climate change, for not pushing toward cleaner jobs and reducing emissions, towards not showing leadership at a time where the world is looking for leadership,” he said.
“We know that putting a price on carbon pollution is a way to improve our response to economic challenges, to create good jobs going forward and to show leadership that, quite frankly, the entire world is looking for along with the solutions that go with it that’s why we’re showing real action on climate change because as Canadians understand: You cannot separate a strong economy from a sustainable environment. The two go together in the 21st century and that is what we will always stay focused on.”
Trudeau also reiterated Thursday what his ambassador to Washington, David MacNaughton, said Wednesday: If Trump wants to talk about the North American Free Trade Agreement, Canada has no objection.
“I think it’s important we be open to talking about trade deals — NAFTA or any other trade deal,” Trudeau said. “I think people know we need to continue to make sure that the benefits for Canadians, for workers, for our economy from trade deals around the world continue to accrue. And as our ambassador said, if the Americans want to talk about NAFTA, I’m more than happy to talk about it.”