Former prime minister Stephen Harper delivers the keynote address at a conference, March 22, 2023 in Ottawa.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
Former prime minister Stephen Harper says some of U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s threats and complaints about Canada do not sound like the words of a “friend, a partner and an ally.”
Mr. Harper said in a podcast interview released Monday that Canada is currently subsidizing Americans by selling them petroleum at a discount and should consider selling its oil and gas to other countries instead.
Mr. Trump’s thoughts about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should have no bearing on Canada, Mr. Harper told U.S. internet talk show host Gabe Groisman, adding that whether the Liberal Leader remained in power or departed is none of the president-elect’s business.
Mr. Harper, who described himself as probably the most “pro-American prime minister in Canada’s history,” said he was still shocked by some of Mr. Trump’s comments.
The president-elect, who is set to take office next Monday, has threatened 25-per-cent tariffs on all Canadian goods until Canada stops illegal migration and drug smuggling into American territory. He’s also repeatedly referred to Canada as the “51st state” and called Mr. Trudeau its “governor,” and said he plans to try to use “economic force” to coax Canadians into annexation by the U.S.
Mr. Trump has also complained repeatedly about a trade deficit with Canada, where Canadians sell roughly $100-billion more annually to Americans than they buy from the U.S.
Mr. Harper dismissed this concern, saying it’s largely because of Canada’s big oil and gas sales to Americans at a price that tends to be lower than what the petroleum could fetch on world markets. Canada lacks sufficient capacity to export oil and gas overseas.
“It is true that Canada presently has a modest trade surplus with the United States. The reason we do is because you buy so much of our oil and gas,” he said on Standpoint with Gabe Groisman. “In fact, you buy it at a discount to world markets. It’s actually Canada that subsidizes the United States in this regard.”
He said Canada should be seeking other customers: “Maybe Canadians, if Mr. Trump feels this way, should be looking at selling their oil and gas to other people. We certainly have always wanted to do some of that – maybe now’s the time to do it.”
Mr. Trump last week also disparaged Canada’s military and said Canadians rely on the U.S. for defence: “They don’t essentially have a military. They have a very small military. They rely on our military. It’s all fine, but they’ve got to pay for that.”
Mr. Harper challenged that position: “When we talk about subsidizing Canadian defence, I don’t know what he’s talking about. We have a shared defence of North America, and the United States does that because it’s in the vital interest of the United States.”
He also rejected Mr. Trump’s characterization of illegal migration into the U.S. from Canada as a major problem.
“There is no migrant flow happening from Canada the United States of any significant numbers. And I’m going to tell you right now, drugs, guns, crime – most of those things flow north, not south,” he said.
“I have a real problem with some of the things Donald Trump is saying,” he said, adding that ”it doesn’t sound to me like the pronouncements of somebody who’s a friend, a partner and an ally, which is what I’ve always thought the United States is for our country.”
He also criticized Mr. Trudeau for what he called unprofessional behaviour toward Mr. Trump during the American leader’s last term in office. But when his interviewer suggested that some of Mr. Trump’s attacks on Canada were intended to “push Mr. Trudeau out the door,” Mr. Harper said that’s not the president-elect’s call.
“Look, whether or not we have Mr. Trudeau as our prime minister is our choice as Canadians. You know, we don’t tell you whom to elect as president of the United States,” Mr. Harper said. “And so, as much as I’m glad to see Mr. Trudeau leaving, this is not Mr. Trump’s decision. It’s the decision of Canadians. Ultimately, it was the decision of Mr. Trudeau’s own party.”
Mr. Trump, speaking to media last Tuesday, made the case for annexing Canada: “Canada and the United States: That would be really something. You get rid of that artificially drawn line and you take a look at what that looks like.”
The president-elect also tried to make the case that Canada has little leverage over the U.S. He listed off all the Canadian imports that he felt Americans could do without, from automobiles to lumber to dairy products.
Mr. Harper said Canadians hope Mr. Trump is joking about annexation, and that Canada’s strong and abiding alliance and partnership with the U.S. is “hinged on us believing that the United States is a friend, not that the United States wants to conquer or annex Canada.”
He noted that polls suggest Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre will win the next federal election, and that “if the United States actually threatens the sovereignty and independence of Canada, Mr. Poilievre will be forced to take a very different approach to Canada’s place in the world.”