Canada鈥檚 Ambassador to the United States says she鈥檚 鈥渘ot aware鈥� of any plans for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to meet with former U.S. president and presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump before the November American election.
鈥淚 think that's a question for the prime minister,鈥� Kirsten Hillman told CTV鈥檚 Question Period host Vassy Kapelos, in an interview airing Sunday. 鈥淚'm not aware of any plans in that regard.鈥�
The question to Hillman about the prime minister鈥檚 plans to meet with Trump 鈥� while the former is in Philadelphia this week to deliver a speech to one of the biggest unions in North America 鈥� comes on the heels of a visit to the U.S. by Polish President Andrzej Duda, during which he met with the former president.
Prime Minister鈥檚 Office spokesperson Mohammad Hussain said there is no meeting scheduled between Trudeau and Trump during the prime minister鈥檚 visit this week.
But Hussain would not comment on any potential meetings beyond that, ahead of the U.S. election.
Hillman said in addition to Trudeau鈥檚 speech to the Service Employees International Union convention this week, he also has a 鈥渞obust business agenda鈥� while he鈥檚 in the U.S.
The Trudeau government, meanwhile, has been preparing behind the scenes for a possible second Trump presidency, and the potential economic impacts that could have.
A recent report from Scotiabank on the potential economic impacts for Canada depending on the outcome of the upcoming American election, meanwhile, states a "Trump victory and follow-through on the policy side would likely see higher inflation than what could be expected in a Biden victory," should Trump 鈥渋mplement the more controversial elements of his platform.鈥�
The prime minister鈥檚 visit also comes several months after the announcement of a 鈥淭eam Canada鈥� approach to the U.S. election, including, Hillman said, five premiers and about 14 Canadian federal ministers who have since visited the country, in addition to 鈥渁 number鈥� of parliamentarians from all parties.
鈥淚 think that, one, we're quite happy with the diversity of outreach that is happening across the country,鈥� Hillman said. 鈥淲e still have some work to do there, and we're mapping this out, other parts of the country we haven't quite gotten into as much as we'd like to yet, we're working on that over the next coming months as to what's evolved.鈥�
When asked whether the Canadian federal government has reached out to Trump鈥檚 current team ahead of the election, Hillman said some of the former president鈥檚 current entourage includes familiar faces from his previous administration.
鈥淎 lot of them, we know, are actively involved in trying to develop policies that they would put to him, would he be elected,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o some of them are some of the people that we dealt with during the last administration, some of them are others, but most of them are people well-known to us.鈥�
Hillman said the dialogue extends to other elected officials from Trump鈥檚 first presidency, for example members of Congress, and to think tanks across the country.
鈥淚'll be honest, I'm not sure there is an agenda specific to Canada, at least if there is one, it's not been characterized as such,鈥� Hillman said, when asked whether she knows Trump鈥檚 plans for Canada. 鈥淭here's a trade agenda. There's a domestic agenda.鈥�
The ambassador added that Trump鈥檚 team, as is the case for most presidential candidates, appears focused on domestic issues, such as economic security and jobs.
鈥淭hat is actually a huge advantage for Canada, because we have a lot to talk about in that space.鈥�
With files from CTV鈥檚 Question Period Senior Producer Stephanie Ha
