Green Party Leader Elizabeth May is heading to Washington, D.C. with the message that Canada is united against looming tariffs that will only hurt people on both sides of the border.
May said she plans to attend the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday to talk to as many Republican and Democrat politicians as possible.
U.S. President Donald Trump had threatened 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods to come into effect on Tuesday, although that was paused until March 5 after an 11th hour agreement with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The non-partisan National Prayer Breakfast, held each year since 1953 on the first Thursday in February, is attended by members of the U.S. Congress, cabinet, diplomatic corps and business community, as well as representatives from more than 100 countries.
“I know that there will be literally hundreds of U.S. congressmen, senators and government officials, [all] in the same room,” she said. “I’m just going down there to be a proud Canadian and see what I can do.”
May said when she spoke with Trudeau, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves -Francois Blanchet about tariffs on Sunday, they agreed her message would be one of solidarity.
“I feel I now have a collective mandate from all leaders to bring a message to Washington that Canada is united in this,” she said.
Initially called the Presidential Prayer Breakfast, the event has been attended by every American president since Dwight Eisenhower. May said she saw Trump at the 2017 breakfast, but doesn’t know if he’ll attend Thursday. “If I meet Trump it will be a fluke,” she said.
Canada’s Speaker of the House Greg Fergus will also attend and May said they will meet with Canada’s ambassador to the United States.
“This is a good opportunity to increase our networks in the U.S., speak to American elected officials and answer their questions, try to allay misinformation, and to tell them we’re united — Canadians are united in this.”
May said she doesn’t know what to make of the 30-day suspension of threatened tariffs.
“It could mean that the business leaders and economic giants of the Republican Party have taken him aside and said, ‘This is really dumb — why would you start a trade war with our single largest trading partner, why are you insulting a country that is always our ally and friend, what are you trying to do here?’ ” she said.
“I think Trump has displayed himself to be erratic at the level that makes the word unpredictable.”
The Green Party leader said the needless trade war is all the more confounding, given how Canada has worked with the U.S. at critical times, including providing refuge for stranded passengers and planes at Gander, NL, after the terrorist attacks of 9/11.
May said Trump clearly thinks he can belittle and insult Canada. “I’m amazed that Justin Trudeau has managed to stay as civil [as he has],” she said.
“[Trump] is a bully and a blaggard and a danger to the world, but we’re not going to back down, never back down, because if he thinks he can attack the United States’ best friend like Canada, what would they do to countries they don’t like so much?”
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