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Canada’s premiers are kicking off a three-day summit in Ontario’s cottage country at a time of heightened anxiety over tariffs and trade with Canada’s closest trading partner, the United States.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is hosting all 13 provincial and territorial premiers in Huntsville, Ont., about 220 kilometres north of Toronto, with meetings getting underway on Monday.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to join them to provide an update on trade negotiations.
Carney announced his attendance shortly after Donald Trump threatened a 35 per cent tariff on Canadian goods that are not compliant with the existing Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade, known as CUSMA.
While trade and tariffs are expected to be the main topics of discussion, premiers will also be meeting on Monday with Indigenous leaders. In the afternoon, they’re expected to sign more memorandums of understanding intended to remove barriers to interprovincial trade.
Provinces have been signing a variety of MOUs to signal intentions to amend their laws and regulations as part of the largest push in modern history to liberalize interprovincial trade.
One study estimates that existing trade hurdles cost the Canadian economy about $200 billion annually, and all provinces have expressed a willingness to work on this issue as a means of countering U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Carney’s meeting with the premiers, scheduled for Tuesday morning, comes at a time when relations between provinces and the federal government appear to be thawing.
In June, the premiers met with Carney and left talking about “great collaboration, great communication” and unity.
The federal government is currently working toward an Aug. 1 deadline to hammer out a new free trade deal with the United States. Last week, Carney suggested that getting a deal without any tariffs is unlikely.
“We’re looking forward to hearing an update on the negotiations with the U.S. and how those trade talks are going because New Brunswick is very keen to see an elimination of this uncertainty,” said New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt on Friday.
Premiers are expected to discuss U.S. relations and internal trade, international trade diversification and how to build major projects following the passage of the federal government’s Bill C-5, which seeks to fast-track projects of national importance.
They’re also expected to discuss Arctic security, wildfires and emergency management, labour mobility, immigration, health and public safety.