Canadians ‘more united than ever’ in face of tariff threats: Trudeau

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OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canadians have been “more united than ever” in the face of the threat of U.S. tariffs, which President Donald Trump agreed to pause for 30 days on Monday in exchange for extra border measures.

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Speaking at a Lunar New Year reception in Ottawa, Trudeau said the past few weeks have been “challenging” but said he was encouraged to see Canadians step up to support their local businesses and communities in the face of 25 per cent U.S. tariffs.

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“That is the very best of Canada,” Trudeau told the crowd on Tuesday evening. “We pull together when we’re faced with challenges, and that’s what we’ve seen from coast to coast to coast. We are more aligned than ever. We are more united than ever.”

“We’ve collectively shown that when Canada’s interests are in danger, our political identity no longer matters. There is only one team, that is Team Canada,” he added.

The threat of crippling tariffs from their closest economic partner saw Canadians ditch U.S. products and companies to buy Canadian-made products, and some cancelling their vacation south of the border or booing the U.S. anthem during sports events.

Trudeau and Trump ultimately spoke two times on Monday on the eve of the start of the tariffs. After their second conversation, Trump agreed to pause the tariffs until March 4.

Trudeau said that, on top of the $1.3 billion border plan announced in December, Canada had agreed to implement more measures to better protect the border including 10,000 frontline personnel and a “fentanyl czar” to coordinate the government’s actions.

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On Tuesday, Trump called this a “short-term freeze” on the threat of tariffs against Canada and Mexico, which was also in his sights, and congratulated himself for forcing both countries to be “very strong on the border, stronger than they ever were by far.”

“I mean the border is now closed, really closed,” he told reporters.

At the Lunar New Year event, Trudeau said that Canadians are “not out of the woods yet” and will need to “continue to pull together and be there for each other.” He said that his government would “keep working until those tariffs are off the table altogether.”

“There’s a lot of work to do over the next month,” he told reporters before the event.

Trudeau also paid tribute to the Aga Khan, the spiritual leader of millions of Ismaili Muslims, who passed away Tuesday at the age of 88, whom he described as a “friend.”

“He will be deeply, deeply missed by people around the world, but particularly the Ismaili community that is grieving tonight. Our hearts go out to all of them,” he said.

He continued: “I lost a very good friend, a friend of my father’s and a friend of mine tonight, so I am sad. And we will all reflect on his extraordinary legacy for the coming days, weeks, and indeed, years.”

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