Trudeau accuses Poilievre of failing to put politics aside in face of Trump tariff threat

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre on Wednesday of being unable to put partisanship aside in the face of Donald Trump's tariff threat.

Trudeau flew to Florida last week to meet with the U.S. president-elect after Trump threatened to slap 25 per cent tariffs on all goods coming from Canada and Mexico unless both countries stop what he called an "invasion" of drugs, "in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens" into the U.S.

The prime minister met with Poilievre and the other opposition leaders on Tuesday to brief them on his visit to Florida.

Despite all party leaders agreeing that the tariffs would be disastrous for both the Canadian and U.S. economies, Tuesday's meeting doesn't appear to have forged a united front among the parties.

Speaking to reporters on his way into question period on Wednesday, Trudeau said Poilievre was failing to put politics on the backburner in the face of Trump's threat.

"There is a tradition in Canada that when times are tough, when there's a moment of crisis or when we're threatened, Canadians pull together. We step up, we go across partisan lines and we defend Canada," Trudeau said.

"It seems increasingly clear that is not something Pierre Poilievre is able to do."

WATCH | Trudeau criticizes Poilievre for partisanship in face of Trump tariff threat:

Trudeau criticizes Poilievre for partisanship in face of Trump tariff threat

8 hours ago

Duration 0:20

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says that when Canada is in crisis or threatened regardless of partisan stripes Canadians come together, but added that it is ‘increasingly clear that is not something Pierre Poilievre is able to do.’

Poilievre has criticized the government's border policies over the past few days, saying that the Liberals have "lost control of the border."

Those comments come after Trudeau reportedly asked opposition leaders not to feed into Trump's claim that the Canada-U.S. border is somehow being overrun by migrants and drug trafficking.

While the flow of migrants and illegal drugs over the northern border is a fraction of what crosses over from Mexico, Trump is still concerned about what's coming from Canada — just as Canadian officials are alarmed by drugs and guns flowing north.

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May said after Tuesday's meeting that Trudeau asked the other leaders to present a united front against American broadsides.

"We were reminded, please, don't say things that aren't true, don't play into Trump's narrative," she said.

The leaders were told "it would be helpful in the coming weeks and months if we don't in any way amplify the kind of messaging and language the Trump administration is using to attack Canada," she said.

But Poilievre came out of Tuesday's meeting and told reporters the border is "broken."

"The prime minister has broken our immigration system, broken our banks, broken our border. We need to fix those things and put Canada first," he said.

WATCH | Poilievre says Trump's proposed tariffs would hurt the U.S. as well: 

Poilievre says Trump’s proposed tariffs would hurt the U.S. as well

1 day ago

Duration 1:56

Following a meeting with all party leaders about the prime minister’s dinner meeting in Florida with U.S. president-elect Donald Trump last week, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre discussed how Trump's threatened tariffs would be damaging to both the U.S. and Canada.

Poilievre has continued that line of attack in question period, saying Wednesday that "this weak prime minister has lost control of everything. He's lost control of the borders, lost control of immigration."

After meeting with representatives of a number of Canadian and American law enforcement agencies, Quebec's Public Security Minister François Bonnardel said Tuesday that the number of irregular crossings from Canada to the U.S. has jumped significantly in the last three years.

Of the 25,000 irregular crossings into the U.S. from Canada this year, 19,000 happened between Cornwall, Ont., and Sherbrooke, Que., he said. He said there were 600 irregular crossings from Quebec in 2022 and 7,000 in 2023.

"We are in a situation that we can consider stable at the border," Bonnardel said. "This situation is maybe more complicated on the other side."

The Liberals have said they are starting to take measures to address some of Trump's concerns and are planning to buy helicopters and drones to improve monitoring at the border.

Following Tuesday's meeting, Poilievre told reporters that he urged the prime minister to remind the Trump administration of just how damaging tariffs would be for both Canadian and American businesses and workers.

He said it should be "easy" for Canada to avoid tariffs if the Americans understand they could deliver a hit to their own economy.

As Trudeau and Poilievre criticized each other, two of Canada's pemiers appeared on Fox News on Wednesday to pitch Canada's case to an American audience.

"Right now it's Team Canada, and I'm glad that the prime minister went down there. The first leader of the G7 to come and visit president-elect Trump," Ontario Premier Doug Ford told host Neil Cavuto, adding that Trump's proposed tariffs would hurt both Canada and the U.S.

"Canada does $1.3 trillion of trade, more than China and Japan, U.K. and France combined. Ontario alone does $500 billion of two-way trade. And I might add, it's equally split down the centre," Ford said.

In a separate interview, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith made the case for the U.S. to import more Canadian oil and gas.

"We stand by ready to help but it will depend on the direction the U.S. administration takes," she told host Stuart Varney.