Prime Minister Mark Carney is aiming to hold his first meeting with Canada’s premiers on Friday, sources tell CBC News.
Carney, who was sworn in last week, has met with a couple of premiers but this would be his first meeting with all 13 provincial and territorial leaders.
The virtual meeting is being planned against the backdrop of further looming tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration.
Trump has so far hit all Canadian goods with a 25 per cent tariff — though he has since backtracked to temporarily exclude goods compliant with the current North American trade deal — and 25 per cent on Canadian steel and aluminum.
The president is planning further “reciprocal tariffs” on goods from a number of countries starting April 2, though it is not yet clear how those would impact Canada.
Carney said Tuesday that reacting to every trade move from Trump isn’t his priority, and is instead focused on building the Canadian economy.
“We can give ourselves more than anything that President Trump or any other trade partner can take away,” he told reporters at a news conference in Iqaluit.
Carney said he anticipates that resolving trade issues with the U.S. will take time.
“It’s not going to happen overnight. There’s no magic one meeting that is going to unlock things,” he said.
Asked about a potential meeting with Trump, Carney said it would happen at the “appropriate time.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney, speaking in Nunavut on Tuesday, said he expects to discuss a wide range of issues with U.S. President Donald Trump when they first speak — adding that he looks forward to a conversation on trade as two sovereign nations ‘at the appropriate time.’
Speaking to reporters after meeting with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday, Carney said he’d be willing to meet with Trump to talk trade — but insisted the president first stop referring to Canada as the 51st state.
“We’ve called out those comments. They’re disrespectful, they’re not helpful and they need to stop,” he said.
“They will have to stop before we sit down and have a conversation about our broader partnership with the United States.”
Carney met with Starmer in London and French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Monday in his first official trip as prime minister. His tour wrapped up with a stop in Iqaluit on Tuesday.
Sources told CBC News that it was Carney’s decision to travel to those destinations on his first trip, in a symbolic acknowledgement of Canada’s founding peoples.
“[Canada is] a country built on the bedrock of three peoples: Indigenous, French and British,” Carney said Friday during his first speech after being sworn in as prime minister.
China retaliation on agricultural goods
The new prime minister can also expect to hear complaints about trade irritants with China, especially from western provinces.
Earlier this month, China slapped 100 per cent tariffs on Canadian agricultural products — including canola — in retaliation for Canada’s 100 per cent tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles and a 25 per cent levy on Chinese aluminum and steel products. Those tariffs were imposed in October to match similar U.S. levies.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe has called for urgent federal support for farmers in the wake of China’s tariffs.
Jobs Minister Steven MacKinnon said Tuesday that Canada’s tariffs are justified under international trade rules and that the government will be “fighting against” China’s retaliation.
When asked about potential supports for farmers, MacKinnon pointed to a boost in the Farm Credit Canada program announced earlier this month, but said the government will continue to engage the agriculture sector.
