Poilievre targets Trump, urges Canada to focus on what it can control in major speech

In a speech communication egg laying come out the inside information of how Canada should respond to the ruff administration, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre directly attacked U.S. President Donald Trump's trade and tariff policies, urging Canadians to focus on what they can control.

Quoting Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, Poilievre said Canadians have power over their mind, but not outside events — and when they realize this they will find their strength. 

"Canada cannot control the decisions of foreign presidents," he said in the opening to his speech at the Economic Club of Canada in Toronto on Thursday.

"But we can control the strength of our own country. We can control whether our economy is solid or fragile … the lesson of this moment is simple: The path to sovereignty begins with focusing relentlessly on what is within our power."

The speech detailed how Canada should craft its trading relationship with China and India, handle the upcoming review of CUSMA, diversify trade and rebuild the military. 

Trump wrong on trade surplus, Afghan war and his 51st state talk is 'unacceptable': Poilievre

Poilievre saved some of his most pointed words for U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, whose trade and economic policies the Conservative leader said are "wrong" on many fronts and have justifiably upset Canadians. 

"Our trade surplus does not represent exploitation by Canada of the United States of America — quite the opposite. In fact it is the result of us selling very good and very well priced, in fact below market priced, raw materials which America then upgrades and turns into massive profits for its economy," he said. 

"He is also wrong to ignore the sacrifices Canada has made for the United States," Poilievre said. "Canadians fought and died alongside Americans in Afghanistan after 9/11. And let's be clear, we did that exclusively in a response to an attack on our American neighbours."

Poilievre also took aim at Trump's threats to annex Canada, saying "whether it is a joke or not, is unacceptable. It goes without saying there is zero chance of Canada ever being a part of the United States."

The Conservative leader said that while Trump may have been right to try and reverse the hollowing out of U.S. Manufacturing by overturning the trading system, Trump "missed the target by going after allies like Canada."

As Canada approaches this summer's review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), Poilievre told the audience that Canada should not be afraid of using the leverage at its disposal. 

That begins, Poilievre said, with remembering that Canada is the U.S.'s "second-largest customer" and Canada controls "the hemisphere's largest land mass, airspace and northern approaches."

Canada announced in October that G7 countries agreed to invest $6.4 billion into 26 critical mineral projects across Canada in order to develop and stockpile some critical minerals under the Defence Production Act.

That same month Canada announced a partnership with Australia that would see the two countries work together to develop their critical mineral industries and supply chains.

Poilievre backed the idea of a strategic critical minerals reserve, saying when stored domestically, such a reserve would help not only Canada but its allies "during war, crisis or supply disruption." 

Poilievre proposed signing agreements with the U.S. And other allies that would see critical minerals from the reserves shared with those allies, but only if "they honour tariff-free trade commitments."

Poilievre also said that as Canada expands its military it should be cautious when buying from America and that all "U.S. Defence imports should be proportionate to the trade treatment Canada receives."

To help Canada streamline the way it purchases military assets and equipment, he said he wants to give the Canadian Armed Forces the ability to go out and buy what it needs with limited bureaucratic oversight.

As prime minister, Poilievre says he would go into the CUSMA review asking for an end to tariffs on steel, aluminum, autos and softwood lumber. 

He said he would also look to strike a new tariff-free auto pact with the U.S. And Mexico that would protect the North American sector from competition with China. 

He also said he would press for a full exemption from Trump's "Buy American" policies and seek to relaunch talks over the Keystone XL pipeline.

He did not specifically say how he would get the U.S. To back down from its positions on these issues.

Poilievre said that perhaps the biggest leverage Canada has going into the CUSMA review is the goodwill shared between ordinary Americans and Canadians who have built "probably the greatest partnership any two countries have ever built in the history of the world."

The Conservative leader said it is important to remember that politicians come and go while people remain.

Canada shouldn't abandon U.S. 'for a new world order with Beijing,' Poilievre says

"That is why we should not declare a permanent rupture from our biggest customer and closest neighbour in favour of a strategic partnership for a new world order with Beijing," the Conservative leader said to applause.  

"China is not a substitute for the United States of America."

While expressing trepidation toward China, Poilievre restated his party's long-standing position that he favours striking a free trade deal with India, and wants to do so with other countries as well.

Poilievre also took aim at Prime Minister Mark Carney's speech in Davos, Switzerland, at the World Economic Forum where he said Canada needs to work with other "middle powers" to combat big economies like China and the U.S. On trade. 

"There's nothing new about that at all," Poilievre said. "We already have that. We've had it for years. In fact Canada has free trade with over 50 other countries and most of them are middle powers.

"We should look to deepen those relationships, but their markets are already open to us." 

'The old order is not coming back': PM says Canada must 'name reality' and build strength at home

Meanwhile at home, the Conservative leader said he wants to make changes to the way the federal government subsidizes and gives tax breaks to ensure that Canadian intellectual property and technology remains in Canadian hands. 

Achieving that, he said, would begin by requiring companies that shift intellectual property out of the country to repay taxpayer support they received in developing that property.  

Poilievre also said he would give tax breaks to Canadians that invest domestically and ban foreign takeovers of sensitive industries related to defence and information.

"History will not judge us by the disruptions we faced, but by how we responded," he said in closing. "By whether we surrendered to events or mastered what lay within our power."

FULL SPEECH | Poilievre speaks on the future of Canada-U.S. Relations

Senior writer

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