Tariffs: Trudeau must ‘reassure’ Donald Trump with a plan, says Legault

It is imperative that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reassure U.S. President-elect Donald Trump with a plan to secure the Canada-U.S. border, according to Quebec Premier François Legault.

Legault said Tuesday that Trump’s fears about immigration were “legitimate.”

“It’s important to secure the borders in both directions. We don’t want to have a new wave of immigrants, but it’s also important that Mr. Trudeau table a plan to reassure Mr. Trump,” Premier Legault said at the National Assembly on Wednesday.

The Canadian political sphere was shaken after Donald Trump promised to impose 25 per cent tariffs on all products from Canada and Mexico.

“Mr. Trump tells us: ‘I’m going to put in 25 per cent tariffs because I’m not satisfied with what Canada is doing at the borders.’ We should quickly remove that argument from Mr. Trump,” added the Quebec premier.

On Tuesday, Legault called the American president-elect’s announcement a “bombshell.”

The CAQ leader is scheduled to meet Trudeau with his provincial counterparts on Wednesday at 5 p.m.

He said he had asked for a plan to be tabled to better secure the borders between Canada and the United States. Legault added that “this is not the time to play the game of whether or not it is true that our borders are not secure.”

In a message later posted on X, he said that a detailed plan “would limit illegal entries into Quebec and avoid Trump’s 25 per cent tariff.” He added that “we must all work together and recognize that illegal immigration poses issues on both sides of the border.”

‘Deportation threats’

At the same time, the Quebec government continues to fear an increase in the number of asylum seekers from the United States due to Trump’s promises of mass deportations.

“These threats of deportations create insecurity. It leads more people to want to flee to the north, therefore to our country. We saw it with the increase in people who tried to come to Canada,” said Quebec Immigration Minister Jean-François Roberge.

“The Americans must manage their state, but they do not have to expel people to Canada. In any case, they do not have the right to do so in accordance with the Safe Third Country Agreement. People who have arrived in the United States must apply for asylum in the United States. Same thing for people who arrive in Canada.”

The Journal de Montréal reported Wednesday morning a sudden increase in asylum applications at the Lacolle border crossing.

Quebec Minister of Public Security François Bonnardel assured there was “no significant irregular migratory flow at the borders at the moment.”

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews