Editor's Note: This story was written prior to the late afternoon announcement that tariffs are being paused for 30 days.
Windsor-West MP Brian Masse is urging the federal government to go on the offence to fight U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs.
Masse says the retaliatory tariffs are a good start but the government needs to adopt a build Canadian, buy Canadian plan.
"Let's take this as an opportunity. Yes, we have to play defence and have the different tariffs that are going, but go on the offence to make sure that when we are spending public money it's done properly so that it actually creates jobs, creates economic strategies that lead to long-term results," said Masse
He said the first step should be for governments to change their procurement practices to prioritize Canadian goods and companies, particularly when replacing government fleet vehicles.
"We need to start doing procurement for municipal, provincial and federal fleets, for example, and get those orders into the system so if the tariffs exist or they continue to actually have an impact we will then have orders to keep the assembly lines running," said Masse.
Masse would like to see the government called back to parliament but says many of these practices can be altered without legislation.
