No longer a joke: Ministers say Trump’s threats to absorb Canada need to be taken seriously [Video]

Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Wednesday that U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s assertions that Canada should become the 51st state should be taken seriously, after he initially dismissed them as a joke.

“The joke is over,” LeBlanc told reporters in French.

“The president and his allies continue to repeat this — we know it’s not going anywhere — but the fact that he’s repeating it, it’s not very constructive.”

WATCH | Cabinet ministers weigh in on Trump’s threats to absorb Canada: Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, Immigration Minister Marc Miller and International Trade Minister Mary Ng all respond to U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s comments that he would use ‘economic force’ to absorb Canada into the United States.

LeBlanc joined Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on a trip to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in late November after the president-elect threatened to hit Canada with hefty tariffs.

Following the meeting, Fox News reported that Trump said if Canada …