Clarification The Council of the Federation had a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to discuss an approach to dealing with the 25% tariff on Canadian products threatened by the incoming U.S. administration.
Although I oppose any tariffs on Canadian or U.S. products, it is my view that President Donald Trump, and the tens of millions of Americans who voted for him, have valid concerns related to illegal migrants and drug smuggling at our shared border. We know that the problem is much more serious at the Mexican-U.S. border, however, that does not diminish the need for the federal government and every province bordering the United States to take immediate steps to crack down heavily on these illegal border activities. Doing so is good for both the United States and Canada.
I communicated this very clearly to the Prime Minister, and further indicated that Alberta will be acting urgently and decisively to patrol our own shared border with Montana, with more details to be announced soon in that regard. I also expressed the need for the federal government to aggressively move up compliance with our country’s NATO obligations of a 2% of GDP spend on our military forces which is yet another concrete way to solidify our economic and military alliance with the United States.
I also ensured the Prime Minister and Premiers understood the supreme importance of recognizing the incoming administration’s commitment to energy security, and that Alberta is uniquely positioned in all of the world as the perfect partner to the United States in achieving that objective. It is therefore utter foolishness for the federal government to enact an energy production cap that would result in a massive curtailment of oil to the United States. I urged the Prime Minister to withdraw this energy production cap immediately as a show of commitment to North American energy security and partnership.
In the coming months, my Ministers and I will be working aggressively to reach out to our U.S. allies involved with the incoming U.S. administration and Congressional leadership to work on strengthening our economic and energy partnership and detailing the work that Premiers across the country are actively engaged in to strengthen our nation’s border security