Following a day of talks focused on domestic issues, such as bail reform and health transfers, Canada\u2019s premiers are wrapping up their three-day gathering in Muskoka presenting a united front in the ever-looming threat of U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s trade war.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can walk and chew gum at the same time,\u201d New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt said during a post-meeting press conference. \u201cWhat\u2019s happened is that the pressing threats that Donald Trump has made to our economy have meant that instead of occupying all of our meetings and squeezing out conversations about bail reform and immigration, we\u2019ve been meeting a lot more.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve spent a lot more time together in my entire tenure as premier in just eight months than I think my predecessor would have spent in six years,\u201d Holt also said.<\/p>\n
The premiers are wrapping up three days of meetings in Huntsville, Ont., hosted by Ontario Premier and Council of the Federation Chair Doug Ford.<\/p>\n
While the provincial and territorial leaders have covered topics ranging from internal trade barriers to health transfers and immigration, the threat of Trump and his trade war loomed large.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Mark Carney also joined the premiers in Muskoka for a meeting on Tuesday, aimed mostly at giving an update on the state of negotiations with the United States.<\/p>\n
While Carney has given an Aug. 1 deadline to hash out a new economic and security deal with the U.S. \u2014 pushing it back from an earlier mid-July date \u2014 the prime minister signalled Tuesday he\u2019s prioritizing getting \u201cthe best deal\u201d over the timeline.<\/p>\n
Many premiers said Tuesday they have faith in the federal government as a negotiating team, while Trump\u2019s pledge to raise tariffs on Canadian goods to 35 per cent on Aug. 1 fast approaches.<\/p>\n
During the post-meeting press conference on Wednesday, Quebec Premier Fran\u00e7ois Legault said the Muskoka gathering gave the premiers an opportunity for \u201ctwo-for-one\u201d talks, both on domestic issues amongst themselves and on trade negotiations with Carney.<\/p>\n
Legault said considering the impending Aug. 1 deadline for higher tariffs, the chance to meet with the prime minister was \u201cnecessary.\u201d<\/p>\n
Earlier Wednesday, Ford said: \u201cTrump himself is acting like the enemy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI have no problem, but I don\u2019t trust President Trump as far as I can throw him,\u201d Ford said, when asked whether he\u2019d be satisfied waiting until 2026 to renegotiate the Canada-U.S. Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), the date by which the free trade deal is already set for review.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe constantly changes his mind, you just don\u2019t know who you\u2019re dealing with,\u201d the Ontario premier added.<\/p>\n
Premiers support waiting for best deal<\/p>\n
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, meanwhile, said she would prefer to have the CUSMA renegotiation process accelerated, especially with Trump \u201cgetting quite aggressive\u201d on certain sectoral tariffs, such as those targeting autos, steel, aluminum, and copper, to name a few.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m watching Truth Social along with everyone else, because things could change in five minutes,\u201d Smith said during the premiers\u2019 final press conference. \u201cBut what we\u2019re hearing from the Americans, it looks like they\u2019re putting off a full renegotiation of the Canada-U.S. free trade agreement until next year. I find that disappointing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we can come up with some kind of common arrangement on those sectoral agreements by Aug. 1, we\u2019ll look at that as a win,\u201d Smith also said. \u201cAnd if it takes a little bit longer to renegotiate (the) Canada-U.S. free trade agreement to make sure that we get it right, then I\u2019m supportive of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said he\u2019s also in favour of waiting on a good deal instead of rushing into a weaker one.<\/p>\n
Deal by deadline \u2018highly unlikely\u2019: former ambassador<\/p>\n
In an interview on The Vassy Kapelos Show across the iHeart Radio network on Wednesday, former Canadian ambassador to the U.S. David MacNaughton said he believes it\u2019s \u201chighly unlikely\u201d Canada and the U.S. will reach a \u201ccomprehensive deal\u201d by Aug. 1.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt may take longer, and I think it probably will,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
MacNaughton served as Canada\u2019s diplomat in Washington throughout the original CUSMA negotiations during Trump\u2019s first term.<\/p>\n
The former ambassador said while he believes a good deal is possible, he anticipates it could take several months. <\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think we should be panicked or rushed into doing something that isn\u2019t in our interest,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Push for stronger role on immigration <\/p>\n
While the trade war with the U.S. dominated this week\u2019s discussions, premiers also carved out time to tackle a pair of other pressing domestic issues, namely vowing to push the prime minister on bail reform and to strengthen Canada\u2019s strained healthcare system. <\/p>\n
They also touched on immigration, calling on the federal government to give the provinces a stronger role on the file. <\/p>\n
Ford said federal Immigration Minister Lena Diab has been out of step with Carney, and that the latter has agreed to convene a meeting of federal and provincial immigration ministers to get on the same page. <\/p>\n
\u201cShe needs to work with the provinces and territories to fix Canada\u2019s immigration system and make it more responsive to economic and market needs,\u201d Ford said. <\/p>\n
\u201cNo one understands their sectors and their labour force better than the premiers,\u201d he also said, adding he\u2019s not pointing fingers at Carney specifically, but instead that \u201cthis has been going on for decades.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bail reform, health transfers <\/p>\n
During the group\u2019s final press conference, Ford also pledged to hold the prime minister \u201caccountable\u201d on bail reform.<\/p>\n
In an interview with The Canadian Press last month, Justice Minister Sean Fraser signalled legislation is coming in the fall that will introduce stricter bail conditions and sentencing for some crimes. <\/p>\n
\u201cI just want to make sure that they put that legislation forward,\u201d Ford said. \u201cI have a great deal of respect for Prime Minister Carney. He\u2019s a gentleman that when he says he\u2019s going to do something, I believe him, he\u2019s going to get it done, but there still has to be accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ford added he wants to see \u201cfull-fledged bail reform,\u201d and not \u201chalf-baked\u201d measures. <\/p>\n
The Council of the Federation chair said the group also wants to talk health transfers with the provinces, arguing the needs and cost have increased since the COVID-19 pandemic. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s Mark Carney or the previous prime minister, we got short changed, as far as I\u2019m concerned,\u201d Ford told reporters earlier Wednesday. \u201cWe said last time, there was a good down payment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kinew said Canada\u2019s universal healthcare system is a fundamental value of the country, distinguishing it from the United States, especially during a trade war. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf we want to say that we\u2019re standing up to Donald Trump and we\u2019re never going to be the 51st state, let\u2019s make sure that our universal healthcare system is strong,\u201d Kinew said.<\/p>\n
With files from CTV News\u2019 Rachel Aiello and Samantha Pope<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Following a day of talks focused on domestic issues, such as bail reform and health transfers, Canada\u2019s premiers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20458,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[712,43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-20457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-apple-news","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20457\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}