New Brunswick’s premier is in Boston on Monday to meet with governors from the New England states.
Susan Holt will be joined by her fellow premiers from the rest of Atlantic Canada, Quebec and Ontario.
Holt told reporters last week that tariffs and trade relationships are expected to be the key topics of discussion.
“We’re going to continue to try to build and manage the trade partnerships that matter to New Brunswickers and to New Brunswickers’ jobs to continue to make sure that our goods are being purchased by the U.S. and that we continue to have access to what we need to grow our economy here,” said Holt.
In addition, the premier told reporters they want to recruit more allies in the fight against the Trump administration’s tariffs.
Holt said ideally, they would get all of the New England governors agreeing to articulate “in loud and formal terms” their objection to the tariffs.
“That would be a win because we have some of those states that haven’t yet come out in ways that support that position and some of them that are influential. So if we can get everyone agreeing that the tariffs are negatively impacting Americans and passing that message on to the White House, that would be a win,” she said.
On top of tariffs, Holt said the conversation about energy is one they are “very keen” to have.
The premier said New Brunswick supplies a lot of energy products to New England, including petroleum and electricity.
“There’s a two-way relationship with how some petroleum products move through pipelines between New Brunswick and New England, and so they are also keen to make sure that we will continue to be a reliable supplier of energy products to them,” said Holt.
“We see the U.S. as a market to sell energy in a way that is profitable and beneficial to New Brunswick and so that’s another reason why we want to make sure we have the kind of generation that meets our needs but also allows us to sell at a great rate to help continue to keep the price lower for New Brunswickers.”
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, who extended the invite to the premiers in early May, said it is important to continue working together to maintain strong trade relations that benefit local businesses and residents.
“Canada is Massachusetts’ number one trading partner. For generations, we have enjoyed a strong partnership and a healthy exchange of energy, lumber, dairy, cars and car parts, seafood and more. Our businesses and our residents all benefit from this relationship,” said Healey.
“But President Trump’s tariffs are undermining this partnership, making it harder for businesses to keep their doors open, and increasing the cost of everything that the New England and Canadian people rely on.”
