WATCH: Carney has allowed tariff situation to “spiral”, "approved" Ford ad: Poilievre
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre accused Prime Minister Mark Carney of allowing trade negotiations with the U.S. to spiral to a dead end.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre accused Prime Minister Mark Carney of allowing trade negotiations with the U.S. to spiral to a dead end.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Poilievre said Carney failed to swiftly defuse the diplomatic spat triggered by Premier Doug Ford’s U.S. television ads misquoting a radio address by former Republican president Ronald Reagan.
The ads, which began airing last week, prompted a fiery response from U.S. President Donald Trump and an abrupt halt to trade talks between the two countries.“
Canada needs a prime minister who can manage relations with our closest ally and biggest trading partner, not someone who runs and hides when the fire alarm goes off,” Poilievre said. “Carney could have picked up the phone, but instead he let the situation spiral into a full-blown economic crisis.”
Poilievre suggested that Ford’s ads, which highlighted the economic dangers of tariffs by splicing Reagan’s 1987 remarks, were not themselves the problem but became one due to what he called Carney’s “vacuum of leadership.”
Poilievre did not endorse or condemn Ford’s ad campaign directly but defended the premier’s right to advocate for Ontario’s workers and businesses.
“If the federal government had been doing its job in the first place, provinces wouldn’t feel the need to step in and protect their own economies,” Poilievre said.
Prime Minister Carney, currently attending the ASEAN summit in Malaysia, has not publicly criticized the ad campaign but has confirmed he will pause the ads after speaking with Ford. Carney is now turning his attention to alternate economic partnerships and is expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping later this week at the APEC summit in South Korea.
Poilievre said the fallout with the U.S. underscores the need for “strong leadership and real diplomacy,” warning that any prolonged rift with America would have devastating consequences for Canadian workers, exporters, and supply chains.
 | A guest post by
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The smartest way forward for Canada is to repair its relationship with America. Putting it off is bad statesmanship.
My advice to PM is: Do what’s right for the country you swore to serve and fix what ye broke.
There is a great gulf fixed, so to speak between, "expected to meet" and "scheduled to meet." The former is based in hope and faith in one's own importance and the latter is based pragmatic preparation and doing the hard work of developing credibility. President Trump is scheduled to meet with Xi on Thursday. Skid Marx hopes to run into him at the urinal.