OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney is hosting Canada's premiers in Ottawa Friday as the provinces grapple with the effects of Chinese and U.S. tariffs.
The meeting at the Canadian War Museum is taking place just days before Carney is expected to launch a federal election campaign that would send Canadians to the polls as soon as April 28.
Audrey Champoux, a spokesperson for Carney, said earlier this week the session offers a chance to discuss ways to create a single Canadian economy, instead of 13 separate ones.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said Thursday his priority for the meeting with Carney is to discuss China's tariffs on Canadian canola oil and meal.
Beijing imposed the tariffs in response to Canada's levies on Chinese-made electric vehicles, steel and aluminum.
"(This is) the most urgent and the most immediate (tariff) that needs action," Moe told reporters in Regina. "I don’t know if we can solve it but we ought to try, and I would ask the prime minister to make that phone call (to China) before you go to an election."
Ontario Premier Doug Ford told reporters in Toronto on Friday that the premiers need to act as a united group and "forget the political stripes."
"Let’s go united because that's the only way we’re going to challenge President Trump and these terrible, terrible tariffs that he’s going to put on the whole world April 2nd," he said, referring to U.S. President Donald Trump's vow to impose "reciprocal" tariffs on the United States' trading partners.
Ford also spoke about the need to remove barriers to interprovincial trade.
"Isn’t it amazing how it’s harder to get a bottle of wine from B.C. to Ontario than it is to trade with the U.S.? It’s insane," he said. "And we all agree. So we’re going to get rid of all the exemptions, move forward."
Bail reform might come up at the meeting.
On Friday, the Government of Manitoba published a news release calling on Carney to strengthen bail conditions across the country.
The release said the call was being made "alongside every province and territory" and a joint letter was sent to the prime minister and justice minister asking the federal government to "better monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of Canada's bail system."
Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, Métis National Council President Victoria Pruden and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami President Natan Obed were expected to meet with Carney virtually ahead of Friday's meeting.
All three leaders have said they deserve a seat at the table with premiers and territorial leaders. They were barred from one such meeting earlier this year.
Former prime minister Justin Trudeau's final meetings with premiers, which took place before Carney was sworn in on March 14, focused on U.S. tariffs.
Trump's trade war escalated last week when Washington imposed 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports entering the country, prompting Canada to expand its retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods.
Trump also has repeatedly called for Canada to become a U.S. state.
-With files from Anja Karadeglija, Alessia Passafiume and Allison Jones in Toronto
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 21, 2025.
Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press
