LILLEY: Trump already looking past Trudeau to next government

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Justin Trudeau showed up to his virtual meeting with Canada’s premiers with the one thing they had been asking for — a plan to deal with the border.

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While not universally applauded, it’s a major improvement from two weeks ago when the complaint was that Trudeau arrived with platitudes and no plans.

It’s been nearly three weeks since Donald Trump, America’s president-elect, threatened to bring in 25% tariffs on all Canadian goods unless the illegal movement of people and drugs was dealt with. Since then, we’ve heard claims Canada isn’t the problem, that the threat is insulting, that Trump is ridiculous but precious little on what will actually be done.

“I think we have to, you know, polish it up a little bit, but it’s a very, very good start,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford, currently the chair of the Council of the Federation, said.

The winter meeting of the Council of the Federation is being hosted by Ford in Toronto starting Sunday and the border issue and how to react to it has taken on greater importance. Across political party lines, premiers in Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec have all stated publicly that they will devote resources to securing the border even though it is a federal responsibility.

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“CBSA does not have a boat to patrol the water on the largest border crossings in, in Canada, it’s the Windsor Police that are going to be doing that,” Ford said.

“We’re going to support them, possibly with a helicopter. I’ve directed my solicitor general to look at the cost of patrol everywhere from Windsor down to Niagara, and get Niagara and Hamilton a helicopter as well.”

The Trudeau government has promised to put more boots on the ground through CBSA officers and is considering increasing the use of drones and patrol dogs.

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That’s all good and its all part of what should be happening but Canada faces a bigger problem. The incoming Trump administration making these demands knows that it is dealing with the outgoing Trudeau government.

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There is little doubt senior people in the Trump administration, including Trump himself, are well aware of how little support Justin Trudeau and his Liberal Party have with the Canadian voting public.

The last three publicly available polls from major firms show Pierre Poilievre and his Conservatives leading with either 43% or 44% support while Trudeau and Liberals are at 21%. In much of the country all three polling firms – Leger, Abacus and Angus Reid – all have Trudeau’s Liberals in third place behind the hapless NDP.

One senior Canadian politico who has been involved in multiple cross-border calls since the election says senior American officials are already looking past Trudeau.

“I do find it surprising how little they listen to anything Trudeau says. They are interested in what comes after the Canadian election,” the source said.

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So, is Trudeau going to be taken seriously as he brings in measures to try and thwart the border issue and tariffs?

Here’s a hint that the answer is no. Elon Musk, a key ally of Trump, a man with Canadian roots going back to the Saskatchewan prairie and time at Queen’s University, is calling Trudeau a fool. Musk was responding to Montreal professor and best-selling author Gad Saad criticizing Trudeau’s speech denouncing the election of Trump in Ottawa.

Trudeau used a speech Tuesday night to lament that by rejecting a woman as president for the second time, American voters were putting women’s rights in danger. It was the second day in a row that Trudeau had decided to use public appearances to campaign against Trump.

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“He’s such an insufferable tool,” Musk tweeted. “Won’t be in power for much longer.”

Premier Ford used more diplomatic language to make it clear that premiers informed Trudeau that his comments about Trump were a problem.

“It was brought up a couple of times in our meeting. It’s not helpful at all,” Ford said.

The truth is, right now, nothing Trudeau is doing is helpful at all for Canada or Canadians, but he is clinging to power while foolishly campaigning against Donald Trump. It appears Trudeau thinks this idea is his last best hope to regain support with voters even if it means crushing Canada’s economy.

For the good of Canada, Trudeau needs to go now before he causes anymore damage.

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