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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said that Canada has no intention of becoming the 51st country in the US.
“It’s not going to happen,” he said.
Speaking with former White House press secretary Jen Psaki on MSNBC’s “Inside” on Sunday, Trudeau discussed President-Elect Donald Trump’s suggestion that Canada could become part of the US.
“I know if a good negotiator likes that people don’t think about it. The 51st world, it doesn’t happen,” he said.
The prime minister, who faced a major electoral challenge ahead of the national election, has announced he will step down in March after his Liberal Party elects a new leader.
Trump has raised the bar recently with repeated comments about expanding Canada.
“You remove the line, and you look at what it looks like, and it would be good for national security,” Trump said at a press conference at his Florida home in Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday.
“Canada and the United States, that would be something else.”
He went so far as to refer to the Prime Minister as “Governor Trudeau,” a title usually held by US leaders.
But on television on Sunday, Trudeau said he would not pay the money.
“I like to focus on the big things, not on the people who pick names for me. I mean, if I had thinner skin, I probably wouldn’t have lasted long in politics.”
One of the main reasons Canada won’t join America, Trudeau said, is simple: Canadians don’t want to.
In an attempt to explain their country, Trudeau said Canadians would say “we are not Americans”, among other things.
Earlier this week, Trudeau made it clear, saying there wasn’t “a snowball’s chance in hell” of the two countries becoming one.
Trudeau said what he is concerned about is the cost pressure on Canadians and Americans. Tensions between Trump and Canada have been on the rise since the president-elect announced his plan to apply a 25% tariff on Canadian imports.
The move could have a significant impact on Canada’s economy, and could lead to retaliation.
“Canadians are very proud to be Canadian, but people are now talking about that instead of what the 25 per cent pay,” Trudeau said. “No American wants to pay 25 percent more for electricity or oil and gas coming from Canada.”
Meanwhile, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith tweeted that she met with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago home over the weekend to discuss the importance of the US-Canada energy partnership. Alberta is a major oil and gas exporter.
