00:02And as the recent announcement of new U.S. tariffs has shown, we're living in a
00:06time when uncertainty is the new norm. Decisions made beyond our borders have
00:12real impacts on Canadian workers, businesses, and families. The cost of
00:18living is rising in every Canadian home. Businesses are looking for certainty.
00:24Communities want to know that governments can work together to
00:28strengthen our economy, improve health care, and build a secure future.
00:32Well, I'm looking forward to sitting down with the rest of the premiers and the
00:35Prime Minister. He needs to lead the way, he needs to come up with a strong plan
00:39over the next 29 days, and I'm interested in sitting down with him and hearing the
00:44plan. I just, and I'll just speak for Ontario, everything's on the table. We
00:50can't keep rolling over for Donald Trump. So that's what I believe in, standing up
00:56strong. You negotiate through strength, you don't negotiate through weakness,
01:00especially with President Trump.
01:02What do you feel about this new Gordie Howe bridge agreement, which will see
01:06Canada have to share revenue sooner than the original deal? Did Canada fail to
01:11stand up to the bully this time?
01:13No, what I'm interested in is making sure goods get from U.S. to Canada and Canada to
01:19the U.S. It's more goods travel across the Ambassador Bridge than anywhere else in
01:25the entire country. Over a billion dollars of goods two-way go back and forth. So we
01:31need to make sure Gordie Howe bridge is open. I don't believe in one bridge having
01:37monopoly, which I've had for years, but the good news is we're opening the bridge.
01:43We've done some preliminary analysis and it looks like there's about $10 million worth
01:49of exports to the U.S. that would be exposed to these new tariffs. No indication that potatoes
01:55are involved in that. There would be a small segment of agricultural products. I think I
02:06can't be specific about right now, but about $2.5 million in agricultural products that might
02:12be exposed. So thankful for PEI that potatoes don't seem to be implicated in these new tariffs.
02:18But look, I know that my fellow Premiers here are probably far more exposed in other ways than
02:28we are. We've been very fortunate here in Prince of Rhode Island to this date to have had little
02:33exposure to some of these tariff measures, unlike some of my colleagues here. So we're thankful for
02:40that. We'll get more details to the agricultural community here in Prince of Rhode Island as we
02:46can. But initial analysis is that primarily potato industry is exempt.
02:51I think Alberta has not been as exposed to some of the tariffs. 97% of our goods cross the
02:59border
02:59tariff-free. And even with this latest round, it's about 1% of our overall product that is going to
03:05be
03:05impacted. And so our approach has been one to say that tariffs don't help anyone. Tariffs hurt Canadian
03:13consumers. They hurt American consumers, whether we apply them or they apply them. And although we're at
03:1897% tariff-free, we'd like it to be 100%. And we'd like every other province to be at 100
03:23% tariff-free as well.
03:24So I think this is a window this month that we have, or 28 days, to sharpen the pencils and
03:32sharpen
03:32the focus. And I hope that we can get all of the outstanding issues on the table, whether it's
03:37autos or steel, softwood, aluminum, and some of the new issues that have been put on the table, so that
03:43we
03:43can get to a comprehensive agreement.
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