Prime Minister Mark Carney held a virtual First Ministers Meeting (FMM) with Canada’s premiers this afternoon, following his meetings with U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday.
“All the premiers congratulated [the prime minister] on his victory but also congratulated him on how well he did yesterday and the restraint he showed,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford told reporters at Queen’s Park on Wednesday following the virtual FMM.
“I don’t think I’d have the restraint that he had yesterday to be very frank, but in saying that, I think it’s a good start on a new relationship... It’s good for the country.”
Carney and Trump spent about two hours together Tuesday at the White House, including about half an hour in front of the cameras in the Oval Office.
It was the pair’s first face-to-face discussion of Canada-U.S. relations and Trump’s ongoing trade war.
Wednesday’s virtual briefing with provincial and territorial leaders also came after Alberta’s premier, Danielle Smith, publicly raised the possibility of the province separating from Canada amid concerns about western alienation.
Ford, without mentioning Smith by name, said Tuesday that Canadian unity is critical as the country engages in the U.S. tariff fight.
“This is a time to unite the country, not people saying, ‘Oh, I’m leaving the country,’” Ford said.
The ‘Team Canada’ approach has been a sentiment Ford has been touting since Trump first started threatening levies against Canadian goods.
When asked about his remarks at a news conference on Tuesday, Smith said she has a great friendship with Ford but that they have different jurisdictions to govern.
“I don’t tell him how he should run his province, and I would hope that he doesn’t tell me how I should run mine,” she said.
Ford struck a different, friendlier tone outside of his office on Wednesday.
“We do get along, by the way. Just to let you know, we text each other… I could call her up right now and say, ‘Come to Toronto’ and we’ll be going out for lunch. So, there’s not this big rift that everyone’s playing out.”
He also pointed to the relationship between Smith and former prime minister Justin Trudeau, praising Carney for taking a more active approach with western provinces than his predecessor.
“I think Prime Minister Carney did a really good job in really reaching out to the West. And I was pretty blunt. I said, you know, it’s time that your government starts showing some love to Saskatchewan and Alberta, because, as I said, the last Prime Minister showed no love.”
Ford said overall, he’s looking to strike a united tone with his fellow leaders and the prime minister when they all get together in person on June 2 in Saskatchewan.
“I just always say ‘united we stand, divided we fall.’ That was my message today… I think [the] new Prime Minister Carney understands that.”
In a readout of the virtual meeting Wednesday evening, the Prime Minister’s Office said Carney “emphasized Canada’s openness to building a new economic and security relationship with the United States – based on respect, built on common interests, and to the benefit of both nations."
The readout also said the first ministers discussed building projects of national interest and that the prime minister reaffirmed his commitment to eliminate federal trade barriers by Canada Day.
With files from The Canadian Press
