White House official says he 'never agreed' Canada won't be 51st state in meeting with premiers
Premiers hail 'constructive' meeting as they lobby against tariffs
A team of Canada's premiers met with senior White House officials on Wednesday as they continue to make the case against tariffs on Canadian goods.
When asked, B.C. Premier David Eby told reporters outside the White House that the premiers had raised concerns about U.S. President Donald Trump's claims that Canada should join the U.S.
"We had frank conversations about the 51st state comment where we underlined that was a non-starter," he said.
All 13 premiers made the trip to the U.S. capital this week to present a united front against Trump's twofold tariff threats against Canada.
While P.E.I. Premier Dennis King and Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston had to leave early due to weather concerns, the remaining premiers met with James Blair — Trump's deputy chief of staff for legislative affairs — and Sergio Gor — Trump's director of personnel.
Blair posted on social media that his meeting with the premiers was "pleasant" but also said he "never agreed that Canada would not be the 51st state."
"We only agreed to share Premier Eby's comments," Blair wrote.
Pleasant meeting with the Premiers.<br><br>To be clear, we never agreed that Canada would not be the 51st state. We only agreed to share Premier Eby’s comments.<br><br>Further, we said the best way to understand President Trump’s position is to take what he says at face value. <a href="https://twitter.com/SergioGor?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SergioGor</a> <a href="https://t.co/gw7jPiBsVh">https://t.co/gw7jPiBsVh</a>
—@JamesBlairUSAEby and other premiers described the meeting fairly positively.
"It was a good conversation. I thought it was constructive," Eby said.
"They urged us to take the president at his word."
Yukon Premier Ranj Pillai told CBC News Network's Power & Politics that he shared Eby's sentiments.
"There's no Canada becoming the 51st state. President Trump is not going to own Canada, but he also certainly doesn't want to own inflation — and all the tariffs will lead to that," he told guest host Catherine Cullen.
Pillai said that Trump's aim seems to be "resetting relationships globally."
"[The American] people want to feel like America is winning. They want to feel that this president is going to lead that charge and he wants to fulfil that," Pillai told guest host Catherine Cullen after leaving the White House.
Trump signed executive orders on Monday that will impose 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports — including from Canada — starting March 12.
Those tariffs would stack on top of 25 per cent tariffs that Trump has been threatening to impose on most Canadian goods. Those tariffs were set to come into force last week, but Ottawa reached an agreement with the Trump administration to delay their implementation until at least March 4.
Trump has shifted back and forth on his reasoning for the March 4 tariffs, though one of his common complaints is about fentanyl entering the U.S. from Canada and Mexico. Trump's Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick suggested during his confirmation hearing that the tariff threat on those two countries is meant to spur action at the shared borders.
"When [the president] talks about his concerns about the border, about issues of fentanyl — the need for us to work on those things — [his advisers told us] that we should take that very seriously," Eby said after the leaving the White House
Despite U.S. data showing that the amount of fentanyl entering the U.S. from the north is a fraction compared to the amount crossing in from the southern boundary, Ottawa has shown a willingness to engage the administration on the issue
The federal government has committed $1.3 billion to boost border security and on Tuesday named former Mountie Kevin Brosseau as a new fentanyl czar.
Eby said those measures "had caught the president's attention," but that "work needed to continue."
Pillai said he thinks there is a path for Canada to avoid Trump's tariffs.
"You're dealing with someone who is a dealmaker and somebody who is always open for negotiation. So you have to be swift in preparing for that," he said.
"If you're essentially sitting down and you're trying to cut the pie up differently with this president, you know he's going to want the biggest piece — if not all the pieces — so you better figure out what the next pie looks like."
On her way into the White House, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said the premiers would be making the case that Canada is cracking down on fentanyl.
"We recognize that fentanyl's a problem for us too and we're doing everything we can to stomp it out in our communities," she said.
When asked what a win for the premiers would look like, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said "no tariffs."
"We're a great friend of America and Canadians are very proud of the relationship we've had over the years and so we're here as Team Canada," he said.
Federal Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who is also in Washington, met with Lutnick and other officials on Wednesday.
"I told them clearly that Canadians have become quite emotional in the last number of weeks and quite united in terms of doing what's necessary to avoid this punitive impact on our economy," LeBlanc told reporters.
"We have work to do with the government to continue to make that point, but I certainly raised with them the solidarity that we've seen across the country in terms of meeting this moment in a way that protects the sovereignty of Canada and protects our economic interests.".
LeBlanc said Wednesday that he brought up the recent actions Ottawa has taken on the border in his meeting with Lutnick.
"We believe that the national security interest around border integrity and the common fight against fentanyl is in a positive lane, but we're going to continue to do that work," he said.
LeBlanc also said he stressed to Lutnick that impacts from steel and aluminum tariffs would be felt on both sides of the border.
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With files from Katie Simpson and Kate McKenna