Premier Wab Kinew has warned that Manitoba must brace for “shock and awe” when the second presidency of Donald Trump begins next month.
Kinew was part of a virtual call with fellow premiers and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Wednesday to discuss Canada’s response to Trump’s threat of 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian imports. On Thursday, Kinew was asked whether Manitoba supports retaliatory tariffs and other measures. The premier gave a coy response.
“For our part here in Manitoba, we’re making a list, we’re checking it twice,” he said at the legislature. “We’ll be ready for Jan. 20.”
Kinew wouldn’t say whether Manitoba would withhold energy exports to American states, as Ontario Premier Doug Ford has threatened to do. Nor would he identify any imports that Canada might hit with a retaliatory tariff.
“Some other provinces and territories and the federal government have been talking about retaliatory tariffs. Some folk are also saying retaliation is not going to work,” the premier said about the call.
“From Manitoba’s perspective we do have to prepare if there is a Canadian response: how are we going to stand up for the (agriculture) industry, for our energy industry and the manufacturing industry here in Manitoba?”
On Thursday, Trump brushed aside Ontario’s threat to restrict electricity exports in retaliation for sweeping tariffs, even as the province floated the idea of effectively barring sales of American alcohol.
On Wednesday, Premier Doug Ford said Ontario is contemplating restricting electricity exports to Michigan, New York state and Minnesota.
“That’s OK if he does that. That’s fine,” Trump told American network CNBC when asked about Ford’s remarks on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
“The United States is subsidizing Canada and we shouldn’t have to do that,” Trump said.
“And we have a great relationship. I have so many friends in Canada, but we shouldn’t have to subsidize a country,” he said, claiming this amounts to more than US$100 billion annually in unspecified subsidies.
Meanwhile, an official in the Ford government says it’s considering restricting the Liquor Control Board of Ontario from buying American-made alcohol. The province says the Crown agency is the largest purchaser of alcohol in the world.
Kinew told reporters he asked the federal government to help Manitoba set up a permanent trade office in the U.S. capitol, “potentially in the Canadian Embassy.”
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES
The province will use the tools it has to play its part in a “unified Team Canada approach,” Premier Wab Kinew said.
Manitoba, meanwhile, will be ready with a more visible presence at the U.S. border as per Trump’s demands for a crackdown on illegal migration and drug trafficking, Kinew said.
“The Trump administration has made very clear they want to see visible signs that border security is being taken seriously in Canada.”
The federal government provided an update on its border plan Wednesday with no specific dollar amount or resources for Manitoba, he said.
The province will use the tools it has to play its part in a “unified Team Canada approach,” the premier said.
“We’re drafting plans to ensure that law enforcement, motor carrier enforcement and conservation officers can be marshalled to help support public safety here in Manitoba,” Kinew said.
“We are going to need to have a response when Trump takes office,” he said. “We’re aiming at being ready for Jan. 20.”
RCMP officers may be asked to work overtime until a “more robust response from the federal government” is implemented. Kinew said a special deployment of RCMP officers — “maybe folks in training at the depot”— would be the “best-case scenario.”
SARAH MEYSSONNIER / THE ASSOCITED PRESS FILES
President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to place 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian imports.
The province is staffing up conservation officers to have a more visible presence at the border and to report any suspicious activities to RCMP and the Canada Border Services Agency, said Kinew, who didn’t provide further detail.
Manitoba is also preparing a “humanitarian response” to a potential influx of irregular border crossings from the U.S. following Trump’s promise of mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, he said.
“We need to have a presence because we know there are going to be other actions that the Trump administration takes in their first days in office ,” the premier said. “Some people have used the term ‘shock and awe’ to describe what Trump 2.0 is going to look like,” Kinew said.
“What happens if there are mass deportations as a Day 1 action by the incoming Trump administration? What happens if people voluntarily leave the United States of America in advance of a potential step like that?” Southern Manitobans are familiar with the humanitarian risks associated with irregular crossings — “especially with weather like this,” he said Thursday as an extreme cold warning with wind chill values of -40 gripped the region.
“We have a moral responsibility to prepare for that, so we are,” said Kinew who wouldn’t provide specifics.
“When I say we’re getting ready for Jan. 20, we’re getting ready with a comprehensive approach,” the premier said. “Our Job 1 is to keep you safe as Manitobans and it’s to protect your jobs.”
“When I say we’re getting ready for Jan. 20, we’re getting ready with a comprehensive approach.”–Premier Wab Kinew
He said the province is talking to its state-level partners whose economies rely on cross-border trade.
Manitoba will send a representative to the swearing-in ceremony of new North Dakota governor Kelly Armstrong in Bismarck on Sunday. The same day, Kinew will arrive at the Council of the Federation meeting of his fellow premiers and territorial leaders in Toronto.
While the premier is keen to work with elected officials in other provinces and states in responding to a second Trump presidency, he’s not joining forces with opposition MLAs who represent much of rural Manitoba.
“Six years ago, he called on all parties to work together to keep jobs in Manitoba safe, but now, despite our repeated calls for an all-party committee to address these latest threats, he is more focused on talking points than taking action,” interim Progressive Conservative leader Wayne Ewasko said in a prepared statement Thursday.
“The premier didn’t say anything new today to give Manitobans confidence that he’s responding to the threat of Trump’s tariffs seriously,” Ewasko said. “For someone who claimed to have a plan to deal with Trump long before he was elected, the premier has yet to show Manitobans any meaningful strategy.”
— With files from The Canadian Press
carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
Carol Sanders
Legislature reporter
Carol Sanders is a reporter at the Free Press legislature bureau. The former general assignment reporter and copy editor joined the paper in 1997. Read more about Carol.
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