Sarnia-Lambton's Member of Parliament (MP) is calling for increased collaboration between Canada and the United States in the wake of recently imposed tariffs.
On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from all countries, including Canada.
Those will take effect starting March 12, 2025.
When asked whether she would be in favour of counter tariffs, Marilyn Gladu said "retaliation is not a sign of a good negotiation", and we should be working closely with our U.S. counterparts.
She said the U.S. has been our closest partner for quite some time, and it's a shame that it's come to this point.
"We really need to be at the table negotiating," said Gladu. "There are things that President Trump has made clear that he wants Canada to do that I think Canadians want us to fix. Parliament is prorogued right now, and Justin Trudeau has flown off to Paris at the worst possible time. That's left us with a leadership vacuum."
Gladu pointed to a number of specifics that could be addressed in order to mitigate future tariffs, and possibly reverse the ones already imposed.
"Donald Trump has made it clear that he wants us to clean up the fentanyl problem," she said. "The RCMP and Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) have identified 400 sites where drugs are being produced. We have shipping containers that we're only scanning one per cent of when they come into the Port of Vancouver, coming from China. I think we need to up our game in that respect. The president has also made it clear he wants us to make our two per cent NATO commitment. I think there are many ways that we can do that to bolster our military here and create jobs in Canada."
Gladu said Canada's immigration system needs to be brought under control.
"We have dropped a lot of the security requirements and have seen terrorists and criminals coming into the country," said Gladu. "Nobody wants that. We need to get that under control again and return to the previous system that we had which was very secure and much-admired around the world."
Gladu said the timing of all of this is far from ideal.
"It's not just at the Federal level (with Prime Minister Trudeau stepping down) but we have a provincial election coming up here in Ontario February 27," she said. "All of this just means that people's focus is not where it needs to be, which is working with our partners to the south to accomplish the things that Canadians and Americans want. I think there are a lot of ways that we can help each other and win together. That's the better solution."
Gladu admits Trump's anti-Canadian rhetoric, including a push to make Canada the 51st U.S. state, is bringing Canadians closer together.
"Certainly, I think there's been a unifying effect on the country, which is great," said Gladu. "We need more patriotism. Everyone has been clear that Canada is a sovereign country and we aren't changing that at all."