Green Party Leader Elizabeth May says Canada should not go into a federal election with a second Donald Trump administration about to take office in Washington — an administration that could follow through on Trump’s threat to impose punishing tariffs on Canadian goods entering the United States.
“What happens with an election is that there is then only a caretaker role for whatever government is in place during the time the Trump White House is forming,” May told a press conference Friday morning.
“Do we function best as a country in dealing with a newly-inaugurated [president-elect] Trump if we’re in the midst of an election? Probably not.”
Several opposition parties are pushing to bring the government down at the earliest opportunity through a vote of no confidence, which likely would trigger a snap election. The Conservatives plan to have the standing committee on public accounts consider a non-confidence motion in early January and later move it to the House of Commons.
If all goes according to the Conservatives’ plan, the House of Commons could be voting on a motion of no confidence in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government as early as Jan. 30.
In her first press conference of 2025, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May was asked if an election should happen as soon as possible to deal with the incoming Donald Trump administration. May said she doesn’t think Canada would function best in dealing with the incoming administration while in an election.
A Conservative motion in 2005 that called for former prime minister Paul Martin’s government to resign passed in the House of Commons, but the Liberals said at the time it wasn’t binding.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said his party is also ready to take down the government in a non-confidence vote, following former finance minister and deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland’s surprise resignation from cabinet on Dec. 16.
Meanwhile, Atlantic and Quebec Liberal MPs are calling on the prime minister to step down as party leader.
May said she’s “hesitant” to weigh in on the Liberals’ internal matters but the debacle surrounding Freeland’s resignation “calls into question Justin Trudeau’s judgment.”
The Green leader argued Canada has “ten provinces, three territories [and] five different parties in Parliament” that can work together to address Trump’s promise to slap a 25 per cent tariff on goods entering the U.S. from Canada.
“Obviously, Justin Trudeau’s position is tenuous,” May said. “That doesn’t mean Canada’s position is tenuous.”
‘Negotiate from strength’
May criticized Trump’s tariff threats, which she described as “real,” and said Canada has to “negotiate from strength.”
She said Canada should make it clear it won’t cut out Mexico out of free trade negotiations with the United States — an idea floated by Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.
Canada should listen to Trump’s concerns, but it should also dispute the president-elect’s “nonsense” claims that drugs and migrants are flowing into the U.S. from Canada, May said.
“We don’t need to kowtow,” she added.
In late December, two of Trudeau’s top cabinet ministers met with Trump’s cabinet picks to discuss Canada’s new border investments and ways to disrupt the flow of fentanyl into the United States. The ministers did not get a commitment from Trump’s team to call off the tariffs.
When asked how the federal government should respond to the president-elect if he imposes the tariffs upon taking office, May cited how Canada imposed retaliatory tariffs during the first Trump administration and leveraged relationships with U.S. governors.
“We do tend to know people who know people,” she said. “It’s important that we present a united front.”
