Quebec governing party leader Christine Fréchette branded President Donald Trump a “real adversary” Thursday as she launched her election campaign amid an escalating trade fight between the United States and Canada.
“My opponent is named Donald Trump,” Fréchette declared. “He’s the real adversary.”
Fréchette leads the right-leaning Coalition Avenir Québec, or CAQ, which has governed the Canadian province for the past eight years. She took control of the party in April after former Quebec Premier François Legault stepped down.
The upcoming October election will mark Fréchette’s first opportunity to face Quebec voters as the party’s leader.
Fréchette argued that her government is best equipped to steer Quebec through the economic uncertainty created by retaliatory tariffs between Washington and Ottawa. She said her party would work to defend the province’s businesses and workers from the consequences of the cross-border dispute.
“I’m asking for a mandate to move forward through a storm,” Fréchette said.
The campaign launch came on the same day Trump signed an executive order changing the name of Lake Ontario to “Lake America.” The lake is shared by New York and the Canadian province of Ontario.
Trump’s order was the latest action directed at Canada following the breakdown of trade negotiations between the two longtime trading partners.
After Canada withdrew from negotiations with the United States, Trump imposed 50% tariffs on $20 billion in Canadian imports.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney responded by announcing retaliatory “dollar for dollar” tariffs on American goods. Those tariffs are scheduled to take effect Sept. 8.
Trump later escalated the dispute by imposing additional tariffs on Canadian automobiles beginning Jan. 1.
The continuing trade confrontation has become a major issue in Quebec’s election, with Canadian independence moving to the center of the province’s political debate. The issue has gained additional attention following Trump’s repeated threats to make Canada the 51st American state.
Fréchette is attempting to make the clash with Trump a defining part of her campaign, portraying the U.S. president and his trade policies as the central threat facing Quebec.
However, her main rival in the election rejected her effort to place Trump at the heart of the provincial contest.
Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon warned that the dispute with the Trump administration should not overshadow the broader political debate taking place inside Quebec.
“Let’s not let the tariffs of Donald Trump’s administration confiscate this important debate from us,” St-Pierre Plamondon said. “Let’s not let him confiscate our election.”
The disagreement sets up competing campaign messages ahead of October. Fréchette is asking voters to support her party as protection against an economic “storm,” while St-Pierre Plamondon is urging Quebec residents not to allow Trump and the tariff battle to dominate their election.
[READ MORE: Canadian Leaders Reject Trump’s Renaming of Lake Ontario as ‘Lake America’]
