Singh says he will bring down government in March but wants to pass Trump tariff relief first
NDP leader says he will prop up government long enough to pass tariff relief bill
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said Thursday that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should recall Parliament to pass legislation to protect workers and businesses if U.S. President Donald Trump goes ahead with tariffs on Canadian goods as promised.
Singh said he is still committed to bringing Trudeau's time in office to an end later this spring. But he said he's willing to prop up the government to get a relief package through first.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has also been pushing Trudeau to bring back Parliament to better address potential trade challenges.
Speaking to reporters in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., Singh said Trump is "starting a war" and Canada has to be "ready to fight back. We've got to fight back to protect Canadian jobs" and that will require bringing MPs to Ottawa to get legislation passed into law.
"The trade war is going to hurt us either way but we can't let workers bear the brunt," Singh said.
Trudeau will step aside as prime minister after the Liberal Party picks its new leader on March 9. Parliament is prorogued until March 24, but the prime minister could bring it back earlier.
A Liberal government source, speaking to CBC News on background, said there is no plan to recall Parliament before March 24 despite Singh's request.
The government has mechanisms at its disposal to protect workers, business and the national interests, the source said.
"We will respond appropriately. As of right now, there's no plan to recall Parliament," the source said.
Singh said "we will be voting against the government when we return to Parliament at the end of March and there will be an election in the spring."
But there's a lot of time between now and then, Singh said.
"Is the Liberal government seriously saying they're going to do nothing for workers for two months and wait until the end of March? Recall Parliament right away, let's put in targeted supports," he said.
Trudeau has repeatedly said the government will be there to support workers and businesses if Trump goes ahead with tariffs on Saturday.
Government sources have told CBC News that Ottawa is drawing up a multibillion-dollar relief package, some of which could be implemented by cabinet alone while other components may require parliamentary approval down the line.
But sources have stressed it's still too early to say what, if anything, will be needed at this stage.
Trump has threatened 25 per cent tariffs but there's a chance they are only targeted at certain sectors — or they are not applied at all if Canada's diplomatic efforts to convince the administration to back down are successful. The size and scope of a potential relief package have not yet been settled, sources said.
Government says it's unclear who will be affected
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump reiterated Thursday that the tariffs will go ahead this weekend as planned but he said he hasn't decided yet if Canadian oil will be hit.
"We're going to make that determination probably tonight on oil, because they send us oil. We'll see," he said.
American gas prices could jump by as much as $0.75 US a gallon overnight if Trump goes ahead with a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian oil, according to federal data, because many U.S. refineries are dependent on oil from Alberta.
Even if oil is left out of Trump's trade action, a 25 per cent tariff on other Canadian goods would be devastating for the economy, possibly plunging the country into a recession and shaving billions of dollars off of the GDP.
Canadian officials are largely in the dark about what exactly Trump has planned.
Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, who has been back and forth to Washington and is actively involved in Canada's response to Trump, said there is no point proposing a relief package until Ottawa knows what exactly Trump is going to do, if anything.
"We have to just wait a little bit. We don't have tariffs right now and moving to try and put in place programming to support those that are most impacted wouldn't make much sense until we know who those folks are," he said at a news conference in Saskatchewan.
Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne, who is also active on the Canada-U.S. file, said the government has levers it can pull to support the economy without immediately going to Parliament.
"We are looking at ways we can use existing programs to support workers, to support industries that could be affected by that," he said.
Trump's pick for commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, offered some clarity Wednesday when he said the initial tranche of tariffs on Canada and Mexico set to come into effect on Saturday could fall by the wayside if those two countries show action on border issues like the flow of drugs and migrants.
Ottawa is trying to show U.S. officials that its new $1.3 billion border plan is already bearing fruit. It's part of an effort to convince Trump Canada is committed to addressing the issues he says he cares about most.
Public Safety Minister David McGuinty told reporters Wednesday that Canada is actively sharing video footage with the Americans to show Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA) personnel and RCMP officers at work along the 49th parallel.
That footage is to "help show the investments that we're making and that they're working," McGuinty said. "We're going to continue to bear down on the border."
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