Yukon Premier Ranj Pillai said one mission by all Canada's premiers to the United States capital won’t change the complete trajectory of what could possibly happen under U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, but he got the sense that there’s still a “potential for negotiations.”
The parameters of those negotiations — and whether they focus on Trump’s tariff threats and potential retaliations or the economy or defence — are still being defined and evolving, according to Pillai.
“We're going to do everything we can each and every day,” he said.
“I think it's a constant, steady series of conversations, both in person and, you know, over the phone. You try to do everything you absolutely can to persuade folks that there's other avenues here besides going down the route of tariffs.”
Pillai spoke with the News by phone on the evening of Feb. 13 while he was waiting at the airport for a delayed flight to eventually make his way back to Whitehorse.
He refuses to be distracted by Trump’s escalating rhetoric around Canada becoming the 51st state.
“As Canadians, we know that's not on the table,” Pillai said.
Pillai was in Washington, D.C., with all 13 provincial and territorial premiers for the first time to talk potential tariffs, trade and Canada-U.S. relations with key members of the U.S. administration, Congress and business leaders.
A press release from the Council of the Federation, an entity chaired by Doug Ford that represents the premiers, notes the premiers united in their view that Trump’s proposed tariffs would be bad for workers and businesses on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border.
Pillai didn’t meet with Trump.
Nor did Pillai meet with Elon Musk, an unelected billionaire designated “special government employee.” Musk did “walk by” Pillai while the Yukon premier was with a group of other premiers, and some of them had a small discussion with Musk or said hello to him.
Pillai did meet with senior advisors to Trump and individuals on “both sides of the aisle” — Republicans and Democrats.
The key message at the White House and other meetings was how important it was not to have tariffs in place while working on shared priorities like addressing border security and fentanyl and growing economies on both sides of the border, per Pillai.
“It was an opportunity to meet with some of the key senior staff from the administration and get a sense from them about how they're approaching this mandate,” Pillai said.
“We're still waiting to see which individuals are going to be sitting across the table from our federal ministers, and individuals that will really be defining the approach from the U.S. when it comes to trade.”
Some key U.S. officials aren’t in place yet. For example, Pillai noted, Howard Lutnick, the nominee for Secretary of Commerce, hasn’t gone through the appointment process.
Here’s who the premier met with while in the U.S. capital:
- Deputy Chief of Staff James Blair
- Congressman Adrian Smith
- Congressman Tim Kennedy
- Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks
- Congressman for Alaska Nick Begich
- Stig Piras, deputy chief at the Embassy of Denmark
- Greenland representative Kenneth Hough
- Senator Lisa Murkowski
In a post on X, Blair called it a "pleasant" meeting with premiers in which there was no agreement on whether Canada would become the 51st state.
On Feb. 13, Pillai spoke at an event held by the Wilson Center featuring the three territorial premiers speaking about Arctic security. During the talk, Pillai repeated what he recently told the News earlier this month: U.S. funding for the Alaska Highway is currently “in limbo.”
He indicated Canada has some catching up to do on Arctic security.
Contact Dana Hatherly at dana.hatherly@yukon-news.com
