Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, left, congratulated Republican Donald Trump Wednesday on his U.S. election victory, while stressing trade ties between the two countries. The two leaders are pictured here in at a 2019 NATO roundtable during Mr. Trump's previous presidency.Frank Augstein/The Associated Press
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his senior ministers say they will work with president-elect Donald Trump, insisting that Canada will be “absolutely fine,” but former top advisers say Ottawa should expect a tougher ride than it endured under the Republican’s first term.
Mr. Trump’s 2016 election surprised the Liberals and disrupted their governing agenda as they were forced to renegotiate the North American free-trade agreement.
The Prime Minister and his team have said they will avoid a repeat by preparing a “Team Canada” strategy in advance, but ministers declined to share any details of their plan Wednesday. They did not answer questions on how the country would manage Mr. Trump’s promised 10-per-cent tariff on imports to the United States.
“Canada will be absolutely fine,” said Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland. “Let’s be calm,” urged Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne. “The U.S. is our neighbour and best friend, and so we have a plan, and we’re ready,” said Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly.
Already the election is shifting plans in the Prime Minister’s Office, with one senior government official saying Mr. Trudeau is now considering extending his trip next week to South America so he can attend both the APEC and G20 summits to bolster relations with other leaders.
The Globe and Mail is not identifying the official who was not authorized to disclose the still-private plans and conversations.
“I want to congratulate Donald on a decisive victory,” Mr. Trudeau said in a brief comment to reporters. “I look forward to working with President Trump once again to strengthen North American economic opportunities for the middle class.”
After earlier calls with the leaders of India, Israel and Saudi Arabia, Mr. Trump spoke with Mr. Trudeau on Wednesday evening. The Prime Minister’s Office said the two discussed the continent’s free-trade pact, supply-chain security, combating unfair trade practices and North American security.
The Prime Minister has at times had a tense relationship with Mr. Trump, including one instance when Mr. Trudeau was caught on camera appearing to mock the then-president. But the official said the two are on friendly terms and spoke on the phone after the July assassination attempt on Mr. Trump.
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Gerald Butts, Mr. Trudeau’s former principal secretary, said Canada must wake up to a new and more emboldened president, backed by a Republican-led Senate.
“The difference between now and 2016 is that Trump will feel that the American people have overwhelmingly endorsed his approach to trade and the economy,” Mr. Butts said.
Expect to see the Trump administration impose higher tariffs and go after Canada’s dairy and poultry protections, and press to get rid of the Chapter 19 trade-dispute mechanism in the existing U.S.-Canada-Mexico Agreement, he said.
“Tariffs are going to happen. They are going to work their way through the system and they are probably going to cause a recession and probably cause inflation again,” Mr. Butts said.
Mr. Trump’s tariff pledge got no mention from the Prime Minister in his statement. Instead, he highlighted the issues the two countries agree on and the $3.5-billion in daily cross-border trade of goods and services.
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In response to repeated questions about the tariffs, Ms. Freeland insisted Canada would be protected by the U.S.-Canada-Mexico Agreement, which she described as “Donald Trump’s deal.”
“He signed it. He and his team negotiated it. He is proud of it,” she said.
The pact, though, is up for review in 2026.
David MacNaughton, former Canadian ambassador to Washington during Mr. Trump’s first term, said Canada needs to get its “act together quickly” to deal with the issues that are already a priority for Mr. Trump.
He said Ottawa will likely have a few months to finalize its plan, because Mr. Trump will likely be preoccupied by wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and his concerns that China is using Mexico as a back door to circumvent duties and get access to the U.S. market.
Mr. MacNaughton urged Ottawa and the premiers, as well as business and labour groups, to work together and to begin connecting with Republicans in Mr. Trump’s orbit and Congress. He said the government can’t succeed without that collaboration, but it will be much more difficult now because Mr. Trudeau is unpopular and in the last year of his mandate.
The former ambassador said Canada will also be challenged by demands it spend more on national defence and faster, and Mr. Trump’s plan to kick out millions of undocumented migrants, who may try to flee north in advance of such a move. Canada will have no choice but to beef up border security, he said.
Ms. Joly and Mr. Champagne said they were both already in touch with their contacts on Mr. Trump’s team and Ms. Freeland said she spoke with Mr. Trump’s former trade representative, Robert Lighthizer, as recently as Tuesday.
Several premiers issued statements pledging to work with Mr. Trump. Ontario’s Doug Ford said he would work with the federal government to protect jobs. The province is planning a charm offensive south of the border and is pitching a “Buy Can-Am” approach rather than Buy America.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre released a statement Wednesday congratulating Mr. Trump on his victory but didn’t offer Mr. Trudeau his co-operation, instead saying the results show Ottawa must cancel carbon pricing and other tax hikes.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh declined to congratulate the president-elect. He instead acknowledged the result and urged Mr. Trudeau to condemn Mr. Trump’s plans.