Big city mayors meet with Trudeau amidst threat of Canada-U.S. trade war

Mayors from big cities across the country were in Ottawa on Thursday to meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his closest allies to discuss municipal policies and international trade in the face of potential tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump.

Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic attended the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Big City Mayors’ Caucus to discuss how the City of Kitchener can work alongside other Canadian cities in the face of a potential Canada-U.S. trade war.

“The goal of the federal, provincial, and territorial governments is to get us to a point 30 days from now where we don’t see the introduction of tariffs,” said Vrbanovic. “We can work through the issues, including border concerns, fentanyl issues, and others.”

Vrbanovic said Thursday’s discussions with Trudeau, Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly, and Minister of Housing Nathaniel Erskine-Smith were productive.

Buying Canadian was a theme of the discussions, as mayors considered how their municipalities could do more to support local businesses and economies.

“We’re looking at the whole issue of procurement from a City of Kitchener point of view,” said Vrbanovic. “I know the region and other municipalities are looking at it and seeing what more we can do from a ‘buy Canada’ perspective, both as individuals, but also as a city, in terms of the things that we’re purchasing.”

Another aspect of Thursday’s discussions was how Canada can diversify its trade portfolio.

“We can’t have as much reliance on one country,” said Vrbanovic. “We have existing trade agreements, like the Canada-Europe Trade Agreement, which is already in place. There are hundreds of millions of people in Europe, and companies, and cultural connections. We can actually further build our trade there, as well as with Asia, Latin America, Africa and so on.”

Those tariff and trade discussions will continue on Friday as Vrbanovic is set to meet with mayors from 29 other Ontario cities virtually.