Chrystia Freeland warns of Trump’s ‘existential risk’ to Canada in campaign launch
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Freeland casts herself as ‘battle tested leader’ and most capable of negotiating with an unpredictable White House. Chrystia Freeland has warned of the “existential risk” to Canada posed by Donald Trump, casting herself as a “battle tested leader with the scars to prove it” during the formal launch of her bid to be the country’s next prime minister.
Freeland, who has presented herself as the figure most capable of negotiating with a protectionist and unpredictable White House, held her formal campaign launch the day before the incoming president’s inauguration and pledged “dollar to dollar” retaliation for any tariffs that would amount to the “largest trade blow the US has ever endured”.
Speaking at her campaign launch in Toronto on Sunday, she warned prospective voters that “the stakes are just too damn high”, boasting that Trump disliked her because she had been “fierce, resolute and have been effective in defending Canada”.
As part of a raft of protectionist trade measures, Trump has threatened to hit Canada with 25% tariffs on all goods. “I have a message for Trump: We are your neighbour and most important trading partner,” said Freeland. “But if the fight comes to our door, just remember we love our country as much as you love yours…. Canada will not escalate. But if I’m prime minister, Canada will never back down.”.
Freeland, who took to the stage to the beat of Nelly Furtado’s Maneater, triggered the current leadership race by resigning as the country’s finance minister last month after clashing with the prime minister, Justin Trudeau, over how to handle the looming threat of US tariffs. Her stern rebuke of the prime minister was seen as a trigger for his resignation which came weeks later.
