{"id":450624,"date":"2026-02-03T06:31:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T06:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/450624\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T06:31:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T06:31:08","slug":"former-prime-ministers-harper-chretien-call-for-national-unity-to-confront-donald-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/450624\/","title":{"rendered":"Former prime ministers Harper, Chr\u00e9tien call for national unity to confront Donald Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Former prime ministers Jean Chretien and Stephen Harper shake hands after participating in a panel discussion, after Harper received a gold medal from the Royal Canadian Geographical Society in Ottawa on Monday.Justin Tang\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Former prime ministers Stephen Harper and Jean Chr\u00e9tien called on Canadians to stand united and help the country become less dependent on the United States to counter economic and sovereignty threats from U.S. President Donald Trump. <\/p>\n

The onetime Conservative and Liberal leaders sat down to talk about the country\u2019s challenges Monday at an event held by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, where Mr. Harper was awarded a gold medal for his promotion of Arctic sovereignty and national parks as prime minster from 2006 to 2015.<\/p>\n

Conservatives celebrate anniversary of Harper\u2019s first win while contemplating the party\u2019s future<\/a><\/p>\n

The wide-ranging conversation dealt with Mr. Trump\u2019s America First agenda, which has included his trade war, disparagement of allies such as Canada and interest in controlling the High Arctic militarily and economically.<\/p>\n

Mr. Chr\u00e9tien and Mr. Harper acknowledged Mr. Trump\u2019s policies are a danger to Canada but they said the country can survive by sticking together, remaining united and making policy decisions that diversify trade away from the United States.<\/p>\n

Both leaders noted Canada has survived U.S. threats in the past, including the War of 1812, which the U.S. lost.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur pride does not have to be not liking Donald Trump. We should be proud as a people and as a nation,\u201d Mr. Harper told moderator John Geiger, chief executive officer of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. \u201cThere is no reason why this country should not be as nationalistic as anyone else. We have a lot to be proud of. It is a tremendous country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Chr\u00e9tien went even further, suggesting the Trump presidency is the end of American hegemony, which has largely ruled the international system since the end of the Second World War.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it is probably the beginning of the end of the American empire and it has to come,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we are in a very good position. We are the best educated people in the world.\u201d <\/p>\n

Opinion: Mark Carney delivered hard truths at Davos. Canadians deserve to hear the same<\/a><\/p>\n

The two men, who both promoted Canada\u2019s role in the Arctic, said there needs to be a serious focus on the High North, especially because great powers such as the U.S., Russia and China are increasingly active in the region. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere are lots of threats to the North that are actually quite serious,\u201d Mr. Harper said. \u201cBut I didn\u2019t think it would be our southern neighbour. We have to be able – especially now – to do surveillance and reach and ultimately defend all of our lands, seas and skies without the support of allies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Chr\u00e9tien was more blunt: \u201cIt is clearly Canadian. Now, some people look at Canada and they would like to take it over from us. But we will stand on guard – don\u2019t worry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both leaders talked up the country and had little time for those who criticize past historical abuses. Mr. Chr\u00e9tien was particularly upbeat about how Canada is a beacon to many people fleeing poverty and despotic regimes.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the problems is we look back all the time rather than look at the future that we can bring together,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s why everybody would give everything they have to have the privilege to come and share our so-called misery.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Chr\u00e9tien noted that issues of national unity have always been an issue for political leaders. The Parti Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois is promising to hold a third sovereignty referendum if it wins the next provincial election in the fall. There is also movement afoot to hold a referendum on independence in Alberta.<\/p>\n

At a time when Mr. Trump is threatening the economic well-being of the country, Mr. Harper said the country needs to be strong and united.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are people obviously in both parts of the country who think differently, but I think the reality is that [if] the federal government manages the country right and puts the emphasis on unity and not on ideological tangents, there is no reason why we can\u2019t pull the country together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Harper is in Ottawa to celebrate 20 years since his 2006 swearing-in as prime minister. On Tuesday, Mr. Harper\u2019s official portrait by famed painter Phil Richards will be unveiled.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Former prime ministers Jean Chretien and Stephen Harper shake hands after participating in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":450625,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,714,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-450624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450624","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=450624"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450624\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/450625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=450624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=450624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=450624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}