Several premiers said they had a productive meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney, their first in-person gathering since U.S. President Donald Trump halted trade negotiations with Canada last month. They added that further tariff relief from the federal government could be forthcoming.
The prime minister hosted a virtual first ministers meeting with Canada’s provincial and territorial leaders on Nov. 17. The last first ministers meeting was held in Ontario in July.
The virtual meeting was the first meeting the premiers had with Carney since Trump cancelled trade talks with Canada on Oct. 23 over an anti-tariff advertising campaign sponsored by the Ontario government. The ad campaign ran in the United States and featured portions of a 1987 address from late U.S. President Ronald Regan praising free trade, including with Canada. Trump had said the ad misrepresented Reagan’s address and was meant to interfere with a U.S. Supreme Court hearing into his administration’s use of tariffs.
The premiers laid out their priorities for the virtual meeting in a letter to Carney on Nov. 11, including infrastructure funding, the state of Canada’s trade relations with the United States, major projects, and trade relations with China and India. The premiers also emphasized the importance for the first ministers to continue to meet regularly.
While speaking to reporters after the meeting on Nov. 17, Ontario Premier Doug Ford suggested that targeted tariff relief could be on its way. He said Carney will be making an announcement on steel and softwood lumber in the next “week or so.”
“I thought it was a positive meeting,” Ford told reporters. “We talked about the budget, which was positive. I told him that we were light on the infrastructure, but I believe that’s going to be coming.”
Asked whether Carney told the premiers how he would like them to be involved, or not involved, in negotiations with the United States, Ford responded that Carney said the premiers “should be out there speaking” with trade partners, particularly with China.
He noted that the provinces work collaboratively with the federal government “no matter where we go around the world and make sure that we again sing off the same song sheet as Team Canada.”
Quebec Premier François Legault also commented on the premiers’ meeting with Carney, noting he asked the prime minister to “speed up” tariff relief for the forestry industry.
“I also reiterated the importance of quickly revising the [United States-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement] to end the uncertainty that is harming our economy,” Legault said in a Nov. 17 post on X.
He added that he welcomed Ottawa’s defence expenditures and was “pleased” that two Quebec projects are now part of the list of major projects deemed to be of national interest that are being recommended to the Major Projects Office for fast-tracking, including the Nouveau Monde Graphite Phase 2 project and the expansion of the Port of Montreal.
“It is now time for the federal government to agree to let Quebec handle the environmental assessment of these projects on its own in order to truly reduce bureaucracy and delays,” Legault said.
Following the meeting with Carney, New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt called the meeting “productive” and said it mainly centred around the federal budget and progress on tariff negotiations with the United States.
Holt noted the impact tariffs are having on her province and said the premiers spoke with Carney about softwood lumber, adding that Carney indicated a “significant” new package would be coming from the federal government.
Carney and the premiers also discussed other trade relationships at the meeting, Holt said. She also noted that Carney committed to engaging with the premiers through regular meetings in the new year.
Noé Chartier and The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
