Canada on Edge as Trump Becomes President

The cold weather forced the inauguration to move inside

In less than 12 hours, Donald Trump will be sworn in as the President of the United States in the Rotunda in Capitol Hill, and across the border Canadians are on edge, wondering if he will go ahead with his threat of imposing a 25 percent tariff on all goods coming into the US.

It doesn't help when the Canadian Prime Minister has resigned, leaving the Liberal Party in disarray. There are a few people who have thrown their hats into the ring -- former Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney and former deputy PM Chrystia Freeland are the front runners, and tagging far behind is Government House Leader Karina Gold.

Trump is threatening tariffs on Canadian goods

Who is the best person to first of all, stand up to Trump, and then second, win the next federal election?

Meanwhile the premiers of Canada's provinces and territories are scrambling for a united response. They gathered in Ottawa to discuss this with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but Alberta's Premier Danielle Smith refused to sign the joint statement on a plan to respond to Trump's tariff threats.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford was disappointed Smith was not taking the "Team Canada" approach of having a united response, and instead only concerned about her province.

"That is her choice. But I have a little different theory that when protecting jurisdiction, the country comes first. Canada is the priority... When the tariffs come, it's going to affect Albertans, it's going to affect people from BC, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario, all the way down the road. No one's exempt from that," said Ford.

"[Donald Trump] is sitting there with a big smile on his face thinking, 'Wow, I'm going to divide and conquer.' Remember one thing: united we stand, divided we fall."

Indeed he is right. Trump probably is grinning and rubbing his hands together, pleased at how he has made his northern neighbour terrified and scrambling to come up with a plan, but not everyone is on board. He loves making people squirm.

We can only wait in the next few hours to see what Trump says in his inauguration speech. 

Brace yourselves for a wild four years with a convicted felon in the White House.