(Bloomberg) — Although Canada faces a major trade war with the U.S. as President-elect Donald Trump enters office in less than a month, Justin Trudeau has been distracted by a leadership crisis that could threaten him. May be dropped as Prime Minister.
In this situation, Canada’s regional leaders are banning flights to influence the incoming Trump administration.
For Yukon Premier Ranj Pillai, which led to the death of the newly elected President’s eldest son, Donald J. The black bear got to chew the fat with a meal of spring rolls, turkey, venison and oysters at a hunting lodge in North Carolina with Trump Jr.
Don Jr., as he is often called, has frequently visited the Yukon for hunting trips, a passion of Pillai’s. And Trump has ties to this area. More than a century ago, Donald Trump Sr.’s grandfather Frederick Trump took advantage of the Yukon Gold Rush with a restaurant, bar and brothel in a remote town close to the Northern Territory border.
“I made sure I brought him, Don, some clothes, because I wanted to remind him that the Trump family businesses were Yukon-made,” Pillai said over the phone. The two first met a few months ago at a conference in Nevada.
Pillai said the talks were “incredibly positive” and an opportunity to “share some data points” and argued that the US-Canada trade deficit that drew the president-elect’s anger “is only because we’re sending them raw materials. And we are creating jobs and value from it.”
They also discussed Yukon’s efforts on Arctic security and “opportunities to secure supply chains within North America.”
Some of those projects are already underway. Earlier this month, the US Department of Defense and the Canadian government jointly announced that they would invest in the Yukon tungsten mining project.
Although Trump Jr. immediately said he had no official role in the incoming administration, people associated with the transition team were present over the weekend, Pillay said.
The heads of Canada’s provinces and territories are trying to set up formal meetings with Trump’s transition team before Jan. 20, he said, sharing his concern that the federal government could do more.
“I’ve had some very brief conversations with Dominic LeBlanc, but other than that there doesn’t seem to be any full-scale strategy from Ottawa, with a series of different ministers taking on some responsibilities,” Pillay said. To the new Finance Minister Leblanc. He replaced Trudeau’s longtime deputy, Chrystia Freeland, after her dramatic resignation on December 16, destabilizing Trudeau’s government.
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