Ontario finance minister to host meeting with provincial counterparts amid Trump's tariff threat

Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy is hosting a meeting with his provincial counterparts on Tuesday, CP24 has learned.

Bethlenfalvy and the finance ministers are expected to discuss the 25 per cent tariffs U.S. president-elect Donald Trump is threatening to impose on Canadian imports when he takes power in January, among other topics.

The meeting comes one day after Chrystia Freeland’s sudden resignation as federal finance minister plunged Parliament Hill into chaos and prompted renewed calls for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to resign.

However, officials have told CP24 that the get together was planned in advance and not in response to Monday’s developments. 

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has already ascertained premiers across Canada stand united as a team amid Trump's tax threat, though he has differentiated himself from some of his counterparts by threatening to cut off the electricity that Ontario supplies to the states of New York, Michigan and Minnesota as a “last resort.”

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"The imposition of tariffs by the U.S. would be a significant failure on the part of the federal government. To protect workers, we need a full 'Team Canada' approach. That means that the federal government needs to do better engaging with premiers as it deals with the threat of tariffs with regular meetings with the prime minister and whoever is on his team that takes a role on U.S. relations," Ford said on Monday.

Bethlenfalvy's meeting was reportedly planned in advance of Monday's development and not in response to what happened.

With files from CTV News Toronto's Phil Tsekouras and CTV News Parliamentary Bureau's Spencer Van Dyk