PM, top Canadians congratulate Biden, Harris on victory in U.S. presidential election
Posted November 7, 2020 9:17 am.
Last Updated November 7, 2020 12:22 pm.
OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has congratulated Democrat Joe Biden and running mate Kamala Harris on winning the U.S. presidential election.
Trudeau says he looks forward to “tackling the world’s greatest challenges together.”
Congratulations, @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris. Our two countries are close friends, partners, and allies. We share a relationship that’s unique on the world stage. I’m really looking forward to working together and building on that with you both.
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) November 7, 2020
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh also took to Twitter to offer his congratulations, quoting the late Jack Layton.
Congratulations, President-elect @JoeBiden.
As the Trump Presidency comes to an end I'm reminded of Jack's final words
"Love is better than anger.
Hope is better than fear.
Optimism is better than despair.
So let us be loving, hopeful & optimistic.
And we’ll change the world."— Jagmeet Singh (@theJagmeetSingh) November 7, 2020
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland posted a congratulatory tweet for Biden, writing, “As your friend, neighbour, and closest ally, Canada will work shoulder to shoulder with you as together we confront the greatest challenges of our time, at home and abroad.”
Freeland also noted the significance of Harris becoming vice president.
And a very personal congratulations to @KamalaHarris! Your victory is an inspiration to women & girls and to people of colour across our continent. I look forward to working w/ you to help both our countries crush this global pandemic & to crack more glass ceilings along the way.
— Chrystia Freeland (@cafreeland) November 7, 2020
“Your victory is an inspiration to women & girls and to people of colour across our continent,” she writes.
It’s done. On behalf of British Columbia, heartfelt congratulations to US President-elect @JoeBiden and VP-elect @KamalaHarris.
— John Horgan (@jjhorgan) November 7, 2020
Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole says he looks forward to working with Biden and Harris.
Conservative Leader @erinotoole on the election of @JoeBiden as US President #cdnpoli#USElection https://t.co/z0U2GH7DME
— Cormac Mac Sweeney (@cmaconthehill) November 7, 2020
Congratulations @JoeBiden, @KamalaHarris ???????????????? pic.twitter.com/l3NtqQ0YK2
— François-Philippe Champagne (FPC) ???????? (@FP_Champagne) November 7, 2020
Biden won Pennsylvania late Saturday morning giving him more than the 270 votes needed in the U.S. electoral college to unseat President Donald Trump to become the 46th occupant of the White House.
Trump has repeatedly threatened legal action and fired off complaints, without evidence, that the counting of ballots in the U.S. election was corrupt.
A Biden presidency will mean an end to three years of Canada’s government having to walk on eggshells to navigate around an unpredictable U.S. president who posed a primordial threat to the Canadian economy even before he took control of the Oval Office on Jan. 20, 2017.
RELATED: Prime minister again refuses to share thoughts on U.S. election
Trump repeatedly threatened to rip up the North American Free Trade Agreement before and after becoming president and Canada, along with Mexico, managed to negotiate a replacement deal that went into effect this past summer.
But not before Trump insulted Canadian farmers, Trudeau himself, and the country’s Second World War legacy by imposing punitive steel and aluminum tariffs using a section of U.S. trade law that deemed the country a national-security threat.
Trudeau and his cabinet took that personally, and the Prime Minister felt Trump’s wrath directly in June 2018 when the president called him “very dishonest and weak” on Twitter after the G7 leaders’ summit in Charlevoix, Que.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2020.
Mike Blanchfield, The Canadian Press