In an extraordinary news conference held yesterday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reacted bluntly to the Trump administration’s decision to trigger a trade war with one of its closest allies.
Pulling no punches, Trudeau told reporters yesterday that he doesn’t believe the tariffs are in response to U.S. concerns over Canadian border security and stemming the flow of fentanyl into the U.S. from Canada, but about what appears to be an expansionist agenda.
“These tariffs are not specifically about fentanyl, even though that is the legal justification he must use to actually move forward with these tariffs,” says Trudeau.
Premier Andrew Furey agrees. He tells VOCM News that it’s his belief that the tariffs are about destabilizing the Canadian economy.
“These instruments are being used to create economic uncertainty that will ultimately lead, in his mind, to a weakened Canada and to a position where there is potential expansion into the ’51st state,'” says Furey. “I think most listeners when we talk about dilution of sovereignty or attacks on countries they think of military agendas. Truth be told, most countries lose, or relinquish their sovereignty, because of economic circumstances and people of Newfoundland and Labrador know that more than anyone else in the world.”
Meanwhile, Trudeau says Canadians are hurt and angry.
In recent weeks it’s become commonplace for Canadians to boo the U.S. national anthem at hockey games and other sporting events.
Trudeau says those actions are understandable given how Canadians have been treated since the Trump administration returned to office.
” Canadians are hurt, Canadians are angry,” Trudeau told reporters yesterday. “We’re going to choose not to go on vacation in Florida, Old Orchard Beach, or wherever. We’re going to choose to try to buy Canadian products and forego bourbon and other classic American products. And yeah, we’re probably going to keep booing the American anthem, but let me tell Americans, we’re not booing you, we’re not booing your teams, we’re not booing your players. We’re booing a policy that is designed to hurt us.”
