Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew 100% behind prime minister's decision to pull out of U.S. trade negotiations

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew 100% behind prime minister's decision to pull out of U.S. trade negotiations

Manitoba premier says he's glad prime minister walked away from 'bad deal'

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew presented a united front on Saturday afternoon, saying that the province of Manitoba 100 per cent supports the Canadian government's decision to back out of trade negotiations with the U.S. late Friday night.

"Everybody has got Prime Minister [Mark] Carney's back today," said Kinew after Canadian premiers met with Carney to debrief after negotiations with the U.S. broke down.

"I'm glad the prime minister has walked away from what would have been a bad deal," said Kinew.

Early this morning, 50 per cent tariffs on close to $30 billion worth of Canadian goods came into effect.

"These tariffs that he's putting on us because he's got some sort of need to try and look macho or whatever, is completely wrong and we as Canadians should never accept it — we should always push back," said Kinew, referring to U.S. President Donald Trump.

At a press conference on Saturday morning, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada will respond with dollar-for-dollar tariffs expected to come into effect just after Labour Day.

This past week, Kinew said he was willing to restore U.S. booze to Manitoban shelves — albeit reluctantly — as part of a potential deal between the U.S. and Canada.

However, now American booze won't be returning to shelves in Manitoba "anytime soon," said Kinew.

The premier also said he will be meeting with the provincial U.S. trade council on Monday to determine how they will coordinate with the federal government in response to the tariffs.

The premier anticipates announcing supports for Manitoban businesses this coming week.

In a statement, Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham said the crisis in the U.S.-Canada trade relationship is the result of the U.S. president and his advisors' "continuing to follow through on [Trump's] arrogant threat to try to control our country using 'economic force.'"

Gillingham says the City of Winnipeg "will do more to support federal and provincial efforts to fight this bullying."

Justin Fiacconi is a journalist with CBC Manitoba, where he has worked since July 2025. A former Joan Donaldson and Peter Gzowski scholar, he has worked in two different investigative units at CBC. He graduated from Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, with master's degrees in journalism, and international affairs, specializing in conflict studies. His primary journalistic interest is the intersection between geopolitics and sports. He can be reached at justin.fiacconi@cbc.ca.