US President Donald Trump Repeated calls in Canada to become the 51st state are not taken up by other Republicans in Washington, Canada Ambassador to the United States said, although Trump’s allies do not disavow the president’s rhetoric either.
Ambassador Kirsten Hillman said that his private conversations with Trump administration members and Capitol Hill legislators are focused on building the Canadian-American relationship under Trump and showing progress on border security in order to Avoid imminent prices.
“For me here in Washington, (Canada’s sovereignty) almost never presents itself in the substantial conversations that I have with the White House,” Hillman told Mercedes Stephenson in an interview on Sunday The western block.
“People do not contradict their president, of course, but that is not part of our daily work we are working on.”
Trump said he wanted to use the “economic force” so that Canada joined the United States, quoting what it says is a massive imbalance in commercial and security spending, among others.
Its allies as Former advisor Steve Bannon said Such a discourse consists in fact in continuing hemispherical control to protect the Arctic and other economic corridors of great powers such as China and Russia.
When the problem arises, Hillman says that it clearly indicates that Trump’s rhetoric “is not at all appreciated by Canadians, and it is not at all constructive or conducive to hemispherical security, to drive to a relationship where we are arranged and very enthusiastic partners. »»
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“The Republicans on the hill … But also in the administration, I think they see this,” she said.
“But it is a comment that the president continues to make. As you can imagine – and it is true in any country – there is no real appetite to have a public debate on something their president continues to speak. »»
Hillman said the conversations she and her team have with American officials were part of the non-stop approach, “all hands on the bridge” to support relations with the Trump administration.
Although there is already a relationship with Trump himself and some selected from his first administration, she said that there were many key people this time who are not only new for politics and Washington, But also Canadian-American relations.
She quoted Howard Lunick, the new Trump trade secretary who will supervise the commercial and price policy – who was Openly support general rates and criticize Canadian business practices – As an example of someone on which his team is concentrated.
“It is open to understanding our point of view,” she said.
“It has been a large part of the last three or four weeks, it is all this data and information in front of the good people of the White House who are in the essential positions of the Cabinet.”
This includes updating these civil servants on progress which, according to the government, is made on border security, including huge drops in migrant crossings and fentanyl crises, since the imposition of new measures the border.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau increased the decrease in fentanyl convulsions during a call with Trump during the weekend, According to the Prime Minister’s office.
This data may be crucial to prevent Trump’s threat of 25% prices on all Canadian goods and 10% on energy exports. These tasks were interrupted until at least March 4 after Canada has made new commitments, including the appointment of a fentanyl tsar and investment in intelligence and the police.
Although Trump has raised other concerns such as banking access to the United States in his push for prices in Canada, Hillman said that several officials had told him several times that the deadline of March 4 “was aiming for results important on the border and fentanyl “.
There will be more meetings in Washington on the question leading to this deadline, said Hillman, who will understand The fentanyl tsar newly appointed Kevin Brosseau.
Hillman said that it is important that Canada takes Trump’s concerns seriously as they arrive, even if they change or have different motivations behind them, like its steel and aluminum or aluminum prices or The so-called “reciprocal” rates on business partners.
“Canada can only take these … an obstacle at a time,” she said.
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