TORONTO (TIP): Canadian Prime Minister and members of his delegation who had a closed-door meeting with the US President-elect Donald Trump last Friday, November 29, were reportedly stunned when, during the deliberations on the 25 per cent import tariff, the host surprised everyone by suggesting that Canada should become the 51st state of the US.

According to media reports, Donald Trump said in a lighter vein that if Justin Trudeau did not like the tariff, perhaps Canada could become the 51st state and Trudeau could serve as its governor. Trudeau laughed nervously at the apparent joke, the media reports said.

Yesterday, when the House of Commons resumed its sitting, the issue of border security was raised by the Leader of Opposition, Pierre Poilievre, saying that his party had been asking the Prime Minister to wake up and regain control of the order but he continues to do the opposite. Pierre said that in 2015, the number of unprocessed asylum claims was under 10,000. Today, there were over 260,000.oration with provincial police forces to crack down on the human trafficking, illegal entry, drug production and trafficking.

These are the issues because of which the US President-elect Donald Trump had been threatening to impose 25 per cent duty on items imported from Canada and Mexico.

After talking to Donald Trump on the phone early last week, the Canadian Prime Minister accompanied by some senior functionaries of his Government, air dashed to Florida last weekend. The Canadians met Donald Trump and his team over a dinner meeting that reportedly lasted three hours. It was during this meeting that Donald Trump made that comment of suggesting Canada to become 51st state.

Media reports quoting an insider who was at the meeting said :“We are told that when Trudeau told President-elect Trump that new tariffs would kill the Canadian economy, Trump joked to him that if Canada cannot survive without ripping off the U.S. to the tune of $100 billion a year, then maybe Canada should become the 51st state and Trudeau could become its governor”.

Media reports further said that someone at the table noted that a Canadian state in the U.S. would be liberal, prompting Trump to say that the territory could be divided into two states, one liberal and one conservative. That reportedly drew more laughter.

Donald Trump’s humor-veiled bombast last weekend was somewhat reminiscent of his wish during his term of Presidency. At that time he had made public his wish to purchase Greenland.

While responding to issues raised by Pierre Poilievre, Canadian Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who was with Justin Trudeau in the meeting with Donald Trump, the previous weekend, said that the Canadian delegation had had a very cordial and constructive conversation with our American partners on Friday evening. “We talked about security at the Canada-U.S. border over the decades and the integration of Canadian police forces with their American partners. We talked, for example, about the important work that the RCMP is doing in the fight against fentanyl, which has led to drug seizures and significant arrests, often in partnership with our American allies.

Another Conservative MP, while joining the debate in the House of Commons, said that President-elect Trump just asked the Prime Minister to do something. “We have been asking for the same thing over here for nine years. We are calling for additional measures to stop gun smuggling, drug trafficking and auto theft. He never listened. Gun smuggling and auto theft are a scourge in Quebec. We have suggested enhanced surveillance at the Port of Montreal and at the border, but nothing has changed.

Dominic LeBlanc retorted back, saying “we have worked with our law enforcement. We have invested more to reverse the cuts made by the former Conservative government. If my colleague is serious about our country’s national security, I suggest that he encourage his boss to obtain the security clearance needed to access information that will help protect his political party and caucus. For example, when it comes to India‘s foreign interference, it might be a good idea for the Leader of the Opposition to do that.