My statement on U.S. tariffs

As we all know, Quebec is going through a difficult time. I’ve been hearing it everywhere for weeks: people are worried. With good reason.

I’m hearing from workers all over Quebec who are worried about their jobs, from entrepreneurs who are worried about their small businesses, and from families who are afraid that this will just drive up prices. I can understand that.

But we’re also hearing encouraging things. What we’re hearing is Quebecers ready to stand up, together.

The premiers of all the provinces and of Canada are putting aside their differences to face the storm and fight back in unison. Bravo to them.

There are also some interesting solutions to explore. Canada is the only G7 country to have free trade agreements with all the other G7 countries. We also have agreements with the European Union and several major economies in the Indo-Pacific region. These are golden opportunities for our SMEs.

Québec will soon be announcing measures to help our businesses and workers now, and to limit the impact on our world. It’s the right thing to do.

It’s time to be there for each other, to support our SMEs, to buy local and to accelerate the diversification of our markets. I know that’s exactly what Quebec wants to encourage.

We’ll get through it together.