'Too early to say' what N.S. government will provide in tariff aid: finance minister

Nova Scotia Finance Minister John Lohr said Thursday that it was "too early" to talk about what the province plans to do to help businesses that could be affected by new U.S. tariffs.

Since being re-elected in November, President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to impose up to a 25 per cent duty on all Canadian imports to his country. On his first day back in the Oval Office, Trump suggested tariffs on Canadian goods could be coming on Saturday.

"In a sense, it's too early to say," Lohr said after Thursday's cabinet meeting in response to a reporter's question about a possible provincial relief program. "We really don't know what the tariffs will be.

"We know they will have an impact on Nova Scotia and as we see those, if in fact the tariffs emerge and start to have a significant impact on Nova Scotia, then we will look at both what the federal government does and what we need to do unique to Nova Scotia."

Lohr characterized the Houston government's current strategy as three-pronged: Eliminating interprovincial trade barriers, providing support for businesses, and retaliatory trade measures.

"We hope that this will not be necessary," he said. "Everything is on the table at the moment but the reality is it really will depend on what transpires."

Opposition leaders were critical of that response.

"Look, we have two days before our economy stands to be impacted in a seismic way and we've heard almost nothing from this government," said Claudia Chender, the leader of the Official Opposition.

"Across the country, premiers are speaking to the media, are laying out their plans, and most importantly, are gathering stakeholders to help inform their response. And we have seen none of that here."

'We've heard very little from our premier'

Interim Liberal Leader Derek Mombourquette said the PC government should tell Nova Scotia businesses what aid they could expect from their provincial government. 

He also said Nova Scotia should do what other provinces have done — enlist the help of business owners to lobby U.S. lawmakers to prevent tariffs being put in place.

"You see New Brunswick, you see P.E.I., you see premiers who are bringing stakeholders together who are going to travel with them to meet with U.S. representatives and we've heard very little from our premier," said Mombourquette.

Lohr told reporters the province had consulted with 119 businesses or business groups in formulating its response to the threat of tariffs.

Both opposition leaders criticized Premier Tim Houston for not being at Thursday's cabinet meeting.

The premier's office said Houston "was with family today."

In an email to CBC News, Houston's communications director Stephen Moore admonished the NDP and Liberal leaders for their comments.

"The premier is part of all key briefings and meetings relating to tariff threats and the resource file," wrote Moore. "For the opposition to suggest otherwise is wildly misleading and an effort to intentionally misinform the public."