Trudeau congratulates Joe Biden on victory in U.S. presidential election

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has congratulated Democrat Joe Biden and running mate Kamala Harris on winning the U.S. presidential election.

Trudeau says he looks forward to “tackling the world’s greatest challenges together.”

Biden won Pennsylvania late Saturday morning giving him more than the 270 votes needed in the U.S. electoral college to unseat President Donald Trump to become the 46th occupant of the White House.

“Canada and the United States enjoy an extraordinary relationship – one that is unique on the world stage. Our shared geography, common interests, deep personal connections, and strong economic ties make us close friends, partners, and allies,” Trudeau said in the statement.

“We will further build on this foundation as we continue to keep our people safe and healthy from the impacts of the global COVID-19 pandemic, and work to advance peace and inclusion, economic prosperity, and climate action around the world.”

Trump has repeatedly threatened legal action and fired off complaints, without evidence, that the counting of ballots in the U.S. election was corrupt.

A Biden presidency will mean an end to nearly four years of Canada’s government having to walk on eggshells to navigate around an unpredictable U.S. president who posed a primordial threat to the Canadian economy even before he took control of the Oval Office on Jan. 20, 2017.

Trump repeatedly threatened to rip up the North American Free Trade Agreement before and after becoming president and Canada, along with Mexico, managed to negotiate a replacement deal that went into effect this past summer.

But not before Trump insulted Canadian farmers, Trudeau himself, and the country’s Second World War legacy by imposing punitive steel and aluminum tariffs using a section of U.S. trade law that deemed the country a national-security threat.

Trudeau and his cabinet took that personally, and the Prime Minister felt Trump’s wrath directly in June 2018 when the president called him “very dishonest and weak” on Twitter after the G7 leaders’ summit in Charlevoix, Que.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2020.

Mike Blanchfield, The Canadian Press

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