NDP Leader Avi Lewis has urged Prime Minister Mark Carney to "Trump-proof" the Canadian economy and protect Canadian workers from the effects of tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. Lewis raised the matter in a phone call with Carney, in which he pressed the federal government to reconsider its response to the American measures.
The concern centred on the government's handling of the tariffs themselves. Lewis told the Prime Minister that Canada's approach should be built around the people most exposed to the cost of the duties, rather than around the timing or terms of negotiations with Washington. The NDP's position, set out in a statement published on the party's website, holds that Canada should be prepared to walk away from trade talks with the United States if they do not serve Canadian interests.
Lewis's central demand is that the economy be made resilient to further pressure from the United States. The statement describes this as "Trump-proofing", a term the party uses to mean reducing dependence on any single trading partner and strengthening domestic capacity in the sectors most vulnerable to tariff shocks. The party also argues that the costs of adjustment should not fall on workers and their families, and that supports for affected industries must reach the employees within them.
On the question of supports, Lewis pressed for direct assistance for workers and for the industries that employ them. The NDP's emphasis is on protecting jobs rather than on the headline trade figures, and the party has framed the issue as one of fairness to the wage earners whose livelihoods are most directly affected. The statement, however, does not set out a full list of the measures the party is seeking, and the available text is incomplete. The specific amounts, programs and timelines the NDP has in mind are therefore not known from the material available.
It is also not yet clear which specific steps the Carney government will adopt, or whether it will accept any of the NDP's proposals. No response from the Prime Minister's Office to the party's demands has been reported. Lewis's intervention nonetheless places worker protection at the centre of the debate over how Ottawa should answer Washington.
The question carries consequences for communities in every province and territory that depend on trade with the United States. Tariffs of this kind tend to be felt most sharply in export-dependent regions and in sectors where Canadian production is closely tied to American supply chains and markets. For those workers, the choice between negotiating further and disengaging from talks is not abstract, since either path shapes the jobs, wages and business investment that follow.
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