LILLEY: Canada stands to benefit by playing nice with Trump

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The Trump train is clearly coming, the question is whether Canada is ready. Far too many folks in the media, pundits and reporters, are acting like Donald Trump’s election is an alien invasion, or worse that Vladimir Putin is taking over the United States.

At his news conference in Brazil as he wrapped up the G20 meetings, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was asked multiple times about working with Trump, dealing with Trump, the impact of Trump. Trudeau ended up sounding like the adult in the room reminding everyone that this isn’t new territory for him.

“There’ll be new challenges in this one, I have no doubt, but we’ve done this before,” Trudeau said.

Your mileage may vary on how well you think the Trudeau government handled the first Trump administration — my own rating would be adequate at best but not great. Still, he’s dealt with Trump before and has some understanding of how the incoming president operates.

It’s true that Trudeau has foolishly campaigned against Trump over the last year to try and knock down his main rival, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre. That was a dumb move, but it’s also true that Trump has said some crazy things about Trudeau, including musing that Fidel Castro, the late Cuban dictator, may be the PM’s real father.

Both men will have to get past their animosity towards each other because until there is an election in Canada and Trudeau is most likely replaced, they won’t have any choice past Jan. 20. The economies of the United States and Canada are among the most integrated in the world. Despite the bluster, Trump is unlikely to slap tariffs on everything Canada makes just out of spite.

That doesn’t mean he won’t take issue with Canadian trade policies. Every president does, and we take issue with their policies. What is important is that Canada’s elected leaders, delegates and officials actually listen to the Americans this time instead of lecturing them.

James Villeneuve, currently a Senior Strategic Business Advisor with Fasken, served as Canada’s Consul General in Los Angeles from 2014 to 2018 and was in several early meetings with Trump officials as they took over in 2017. Villeneuve said in those early days, Canadians were preaching to the Trump administration rather than listening.

He tells the story of Trump’s cabinet secretary Wilbur Ross not caring about softwood lumber tariffs increasing the price of a new home in the United States. They had their reasons for keeping the tariffs and we weren’t listening and speaking to them in a way that could, potentially, produce a better result.

“I go down to the transactional natures of this, not the ‘We’re good friends, you like to visit Vancouver’ that kind of stuff, it really becomes transactional. President Trump is transactional; that’s how it operates,” Villeneuve said in a recent interview.

“He’s made it very clear what his priorities are. It’s to grow the economy, grow American jobs.”

One tactic they used throughout 2017-18 was to identify members of Congress or the Senate who represented areas that did a lot of exporting to Canada and then highlight the jobs created through that trade. Those representatives would then end up on committees or in meetings where they could advocate for Canada by advocating for the jobs and economic activity in their own districts.

Trump has a clear mandate from the American people and for the most part, he has a clear agenda on the economy. We can fret, cower, claim we won’t “normalize” him, whatever that means, or we can get on with making sure we can continue to enjoy the economic growth and prosperity that comes from living next to the world’s biggest economy.

All aboard!

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