Trudeau accuses Poilievre of failing to put politics aside in face of Trump tariff threat

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre on Wednesday of being unable to put partisanship aside in the face of Donald Trump's tariff threat.

Trudeau flew to Florida last week to meet with the U.S. president-elect after Trump threatened to slap 25 per cent tariffs on all goods coming from Canada and Mexico unless both countries stop what he called an "invasion" of drugs, "in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens" into the U.S.

The prime minister met with Poilievre and the other opposition leaders on Tuesday to brief them on his visit to Florida.

Despite all party leaders agreeing that the tariffs would be disastrous for both the Canadian and U.S. economies, Tuesday's meeting doesn't appear to have forged a united front among the parties.

Speaking to reporters on his way into question period on Wednesday, Trudeau said Poilievre was failing to put politics on the backburner in the face of Trump's threat.

"There is a tradition in Canada that when times are tough, when there's a moment of crisis or when we're threatened, Canadians pull together. We step up, we go across partisan lines and we defend Canada," Trudeau said.

"It seems increasingly clear that is not something Pierre Poilievre is able to do."

Poilievre has criticized the government's border policies over the past few days, saying that the Liberals have "lost control of the border."

Those comments come after Trudeau reportedly asked opposition leaders not to feed into Trump's claim that the Canada-U.S. border is somehow being overrun by migrants and drug trafficking.

While the flow of migrants and illegal drugs over the northern border is a fraction of what crosses over from Mexico, Trump is still concerned about what's coming from Canada — just as Canadian officials are alarmed by drugs and guns flowing north.

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May said after Tuesday's meeting that Trudeau asked the other leaders to present a united front against American broadsides.

"We were reminded, please, don't say things that aren't true, don't play into Trump's narrative," she said.

The leaders were told "it would be helpful in the coming weeks and months if we don't in any way amplify the kind of messaging and language the Trump administration is using to attack Canada," she said.

But Poilievre came out of Tuesday's meeting and told reporters the border is "broken."