Ottawa may have to let U.S. president-elect Donald Trump act as the “senior partner” in the Canada-U.S. relationship, even if that makes Canadians “bristle,” a prominent Republican critic of the incoming president says.
Jeff Timmer, a longtime Republican official and strategist in Michigan who helped lead efforts aimed at defeating Trump in the past two U.S. elections, says the Canadian government will need to treat Trump as “the guy in charge” to ensure Canada’s interests are safeguarded during what’s expected to be a protectionist U.S. administration.
“I think Donald Trump is an easy guy to read and an easy guy to play poker with,” he told Mercedes Stephenson in an interview that aired Sunday on The West Block. “You have to treat him in a way that he likes to be treated.
“I know that it’s not fair to put this on the Canadians, but Donald Trump likes to see the United States as the senior partner in the …