No longer a joke: Ministers say Trump’s threats to absorb Canada must be taken seriously

Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc said on Wednesday that US President-elect Donald Trump’s claims that Canada should become the 51st state should be taken seriously, after he initially dismissed them as a joke.

“The joke is over,” LeBlanc told reporters in French.

“The president and his allies keep repeating this (we know it’s not going anywhere), but the fact that he’s repeating it is not very constructive.”

SEE | Cabinet ministers weigh in on Trump’s threats to absorb Canada:

Cabinet ministers weigh in on Trump’s threats to take over Canada

Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc, Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly, Immigration Minister Marc Miller and International Trade Minister Mary Ng respond to comments by US President-elect Donald Trump of that would use “economic force” to absorb Canada into the United States.

LeBlanc joined Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on a trip to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in late November, after the president-elect threatened to hit Canada with heavy tariffs.

After the meeting, Fox News reported that Trump said that if Canada cannot handle the economic effects of a punishing 25 percent tariff on its products, it should become the 51st state in the United States.

When asked at the time about Trump’s comment, LeBlanc said as much. It wasn’t meant to be taken seriously..

“At a three-hour social evening at the president’s residence in Florida during a long Thanksgiving weekend in the United States, the conversation was going to be light-hearted. The president told jokes, the president made fun of us, Of course, it wasn’t a serious comment at all,” LeBlanc said in December.

But since that November meeting, Trump has repeatedly referred to Canada as the “51st state” and Trudeau as “governor” in several social media posts.

The president-elect reiterated his claim that the United States should absorb Canada during a news conference Tuesday and that he would consider using “economic force” to do so.

“That would be really important,” he said in Palm Beach, Florida.

“If we get rid of the artificially drawn line and see what it looks like, national security would also be much better.”

SEE | “We don’t need anything they have,” Trump says of Canada:

Trump says he would use ‘economic force’ in Canada, not military

President-elect Donald Trump raised his issues with Canada again on Tuesday, citing concerns about Canada’s military and claiming the United States is subsidizing the Canadian economy. He ruled out the use of military force in Canada, saying he would rely on “economic force” when he returns to the Oval Office.

Although he said he was not considering military force in Canada, he surprisingly did not rule out the option of the United States regaining control of the Panama Canal and acquiring the Danish territory of Greenland.

Trump’s latest comments prompted a stronger response from Trudeau than he has given in recent weeks.

“There is absolutely no chance of Canada becoming part of the United States,” Trudeau wrote in a social media post on Tuesday.

Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey said Wednesday that even if Trump was joking, it’s a joke that shouldn’t be dismissed.

“His history has been to create chaos in an attempt at humor. But then often that turns into political statements and reality,” Furey said of the president-elect.

SEE | The Prime Minister of the Netherlands warns that Trump’s attempt to seize Canada’s sovereignty ‘will come at a significant cost’:

NL premier warns Trump’s attempt to seize Canada’s sovereignty ‘will come at significant cost’

Responding to comments made by President-elect Donald Trump, Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey said Canada’s sovereignty is a “price paid in blood” and is unacceptable.

Furey said it was “unacceptable” for the United States to “threaten” Canadian sovereignty as Trump has done.

“Sovereignty has an incredible price: a price that is paid in blood,” Furey told reporters Wednesday.

“Trying to eliminate that will come at a significant cost.”

Several federal cabinet ministers said Wednesday that Trump’s comments should be taken seriously.

“When President-elect Trump speaks, we must listen to him and take him very seriously,” Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly told reporters.

“I never take their threats lightly. At the same time, we cannot take the bait,” he said.

Immigration Minister Marc Miller said there is “no chance in hell” that Canada will become part of the United States.

“They’d have to find us on a map first,” Miller joked.

“It’s nonsense. It’s unbecoming of a president, any president to say that. But we have to take it seriously.”

Liberal MP Ken McDonald said he still believes Trump’s comments are a joke and a way for the president-elect to get attention.

“There’s no way they’re going to take over Canada; I mean, I’d die on the cross fighting for that,” McDonald told reporters Wednesday.