Trump’s tariff threats: ‘We’ll get through it,' Legault says

Quebec Finance Minister Eric Girard said the govenrment's first goal is to prevent the tariffs and respond to facts and not threats.

The Legault government will protect Quebecers “whatever the cost” in the face of threats by U.S. President Donald Trump to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian imports.

That was the message from Premier François Legault on Tuesday at the opening of his party’s pre-sessional caucus in Saint-Sauveur, Que.

According to his calculations, Quebec could lose 100,000 jobs.

“We’re going to protect you at all costs, and we’re going to get through this,” he told Quebecers worried by Trump’s threats.

In his short speech, he acknowledged that the year 2025 was getting off to “a bit of a rocky start.”

Earlier, his Finance Minister, Eric Girard, also sought to be reassuring, saying that the government’s “role” would be to “provide liquidity” to businesses that would be affected by the tariffs.

The two men compared the situation to that experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under the circumstances, the government may be forced to postpone the return to a balanced budget planned for 2029-2030, Girard pointed out.

“Presenting a plan to return to a balanced budget is an obligation under the law, and we’re certainly going to do it … The question is: Will we be able to execute it if there is a force majeure?” he said.

Meeting in Orford, in the Eastern Townships, the Liberals were quick to accuse the Coalition avenir Québec government of running “deficit after deficit.” Quebec is currently grappling with a record deficit of $11 billion.

“François Legault is very good at finding defeats in order to constantly postpone the return to balanced budgets,” said Marc Tanguay, interim leader of the PLQ.

When asked how much he was prepared to extend to businesses, Girard pointed out that his government had put $2 billion of public money on the table during COVID-19.

“But what we saw was that a number of companies did not need any help, ... so the amount that was disbursed was ultimately much less than expected,” he explained in English.

Trump said on Monday that he could carry out his threat to impose 25 per cent tariffs on products imported from Canada from Feb. 1. Imposing such tariffs would be “very damaging” for the forestry industry, the minister responsible, Maïté Blanchette Vézina, told a press scrum on Tuesday morning.

For the moment, Canada is dealing with “threats” and not “facts,” Girard said. The National Assembly resumes sitting on Jan. 28.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Jan. 21, 2025.