Amidst an ongoing trade war between Canada and the United States – governments at all levels have been looking at what they procure from the U.S. – as they look to buy Canadian in retaliation to the tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.
In Regina, Mayor Chad Bachynski said the city procures very little from south of the border.
“I can confirm we are at less than one per cent of city procurement [that] is through the U.S., so we are in a good spot,” Bachynski said in an interview with CTV Morning Live.
According to Bachynski, the city is also looking to further slash its procurement from the U.S.
“We are in a good spot but are continuing to look at anything the city would procure [from the U.S.] and anything else we can do to make sure we are taking that Canada-first approach to mitigate any issues,” he said.
Bachynski also feels the proposed budget, that will be debated and approved later this month, will not be severely by the trade war.
Procurement is the process of sourcing, purchasing and reviewing goods and services a business or government needs to operate.
Premier Scott Moe announced on Wednesday that Saskatchewan will not be purchasing anymore U.S. liquor that it then sells to private retailers in the province. He also confirmed the province will be minimizing its own U.S. procurement as much as possible – and encouraged municipalities to do the same.
On Thursday morning, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that during a “heated” conversation with Trump yesterday surrounding the tariffs, he stressed how tariffs will hurt American workers and businesses.
Trump reportedly offered to drop some of the tariffs if Canada rolled back its retaliation, but Trudeau has remained adamant he wants the U.S. to drop all its tariffs.
For more on the ongoing Canada, U.S. trade war click here.
-With files from CTV News.ca
