Unceded Anishinaabe Algonquin Territories [OTTAWA], 31 January 2025:
Ahead of U.S. President Trump’s threatened imposition of tariffs tomorrow, Climate Action Network Canada issued the following statement:
Trump’s first weeks in office have been marked by appalling decisions across numerous fronts—from exiting the Paris Agreement, to mass Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and arrests, to attacking trans rights—as well as by the looming spectre of punitive tariffs.
Protecting Canadians during a second Trump administration and its wake will require bold measures from our federal and provincial leaders. But the response from some Canadian politicians so far has been alarming: we have seen increased militarism at the border and scapegoating migrants, backpedalling on climate commitments, and cynical ploys to entrench fossil fuel dependence.
Oil interests and their political mouthpieces have been quick to capitalize on this crisis with calls to fast-track BC’s Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) exports to Asia and even resurrect long-dead pipelines like Energy East or Northern Gateway. While this industry plays the “Made in Canada” patriotism card when it benefits them, the reality is that Canada’s oil and gas industry is largely US-owned. These projects are backed by billionaires and Wall Street investment firms who are close allies of and donors to Trump, eager to embrace Canada as the 51st state and prioritize the interests of their majority-US financiers and shareholders.
We call on our leaders not to fall into the trap of obeying tyranny in advance or to let U.S.-owned fossil fuel corporations exploit this crisis. Canadian governments must respond in a way that upholds our values, protects workers and those most at risk, and makes our country more resilient for years to come.
That requires:
Rebuilding the social safety net
Canada must prepare for a potential rise in unemployment and provide additional financial support for workers in trade-sensitive industries and communities, akin to the measures introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic. To mitigate the worst harms to workers, employment supports should include measures like: the implementation of a program similar to the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS), particularly for trade-dependent sectors and communities; easier access to Employment Insurance or other specialized income assistance programs, with more lenient eligibility criteria; and expanding the Canadian Work-Share program, providing income supplements for retraining. Governments can jump-start the economy by investing in essential public services such as healthcare, transit, education, social housing and climate adaptation initiatives, thereby creating new jobs and fixing crumbling public infrastructure.
This social safety net expansion should help build a bridge for workers to sustainable jobs, including guaranteed jobs for young people via the Youth Climate Corps.
Exerting pressure with strategic export taxes
Export taxes on oil and gas and other Canadian exports that cannot easily be replaced should target U.S. corporate profits, putting pressure on the Trump administration to negotiate their removal. These taxes could be strategically designed to maximize impact on the U.S. while minimizing any negative effects on Canadian workers and businesses—although there are no perfect or painless solutions, and American workers would unfortunately feel the impacts as well. According to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, a 25 per cent export tax on oil and gas would net the federal government just over $40 billion a year based on current exports to the U.S. These funds should be used to build resilience for workers and their communities.
A green industrial strategy for resilience
For a quarter-century, Canada has counted on “continental energy security,” investing in transborder pipelines and refineries to reinforce shared economic interest with the United States—despite mounting evidence that this approach was not leading to greater resilience, and never would. The economic consequences we see today are the result and with them come increased uncertainty, distrust and anxiety.
Much like Europe did in response to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, we need to rapidly make ourselves less dependent on oil and gas, and on our economic trade relationship with the US. It’s time to move away from volatility toward real energy and economic security. Federal and provincial governments should act with urgency on a publicly-led green industrial strategy that builds out our national electricity grid and clean manufacturing capacity, centering community ownership and projects which meet the requirements for Indigenous consent (FPIC) and rigorous environmental protection criteria. We must capitalize on the sound and stable regulatory environment in Canada to attract renewable energy funding and projects that would otherwise have gone to the US. This is a critical moment to diversify our economy and find new long-term trading partners, while building high-quality, well-paid and protected jobs where the right to join a union is fully recognized.
More, not less, international cooperation
President Trump’s trade war shows that he is going by a doctrine not of “America First,” but “America only.” Multilateralism is under duress, but a geopolitical crisis fomented by a belligerent power—like the other crises the world is faced with—requires countries to work more closely together. Canada should coordinate its retaliatory strategy with Mexico, Colombia, the European Union, and other countries, as well as start the work of making our economy less structurally dependent on a single trading partner. A multi-pronged counterattack from America’s largest trading partners would be harder to weather for President Trump. As G7 president, Canada has the responsibility to lead the world’s richest countries in showing that even with the U.S. burying its head in the sand, the rest of the G7 still strives for faster climate action and wants to cooperate with all countries to make this a reality.
In the face of the crisis posed by Donald Trump, we cannot allow politicians to manipulate this crisis for self-interested corporations, or squeak by with status-quo measures. Canada needs a response that untangles both our economy and national identity from its dependence on the U.S. and on fossil fuel extractivism—that takes care of people and sets a clear vision for a more resilient future.
Signed by:
Climate Action Network – Réseau action climat Canada
re•generation
Canada’s Clean50
Delta Management Group
Canadian Association of Nurses for the Environment
For Our Kids
Sectoral Climate Arts Leadership for the Emergency – SCALE
Sierra Club Canada
MiningWatch Canada
Greenpeace Canada
350 Canada
Canadian Unitarians For Social Justice
Eau Secours
Citizens for Public Justice (CPJ)
Climate Emergency Unit
Coalition for Responsible Energy Development in New Brunswick (CRED-NB)
Leadnow
Workshops for Biodiversity
Canadian Health Association for Sustainability and Equity (CHASE)
Climate Caucus
Fédération des travailleuses et travailleurs du Quebec – FTQ
Équiterre
Windfall Ecology Centre
Music Declares Emergency Canada
Council of Canadians
Alberta Beyond Fossil Fuels
Citizens’ Climate Lobby Canada
ClimateFast
Grandmothers Act to Save the Planet (GASP)
Stand.earth
Seniors For Climate Action Now! (SCAN!)
Shift: Action for Pension Wealth and Planet Health (a project of Makeway Canada)
Green 13
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