To the Right Honourable Prime Minister Justin Trudeau:
On January 6, 2025, you announced your resignation as Prime Minister of Canada, and that such resignation would take effect upon the Liberal Party of Canada selecting its new leader.
The process for the selection of the next leader of the Liberal Party is underway.
On that same date (January 6), you announced the prorogation of the Canadian Parliament until March 24, 2025. Our parliament remains prorogued as of this date.
On February 1, 2025, the US government announced the imposition of a massive, unjustified, and unfair 25% tariff on Canadian goods entering the US market, and a 10% tariff on Canadian energy.
Since his election, President Trump has repeatedly expressed a fervent desire for Canada to become the 51st state of the United States of America.
On February 1, 2025, you retaliated with Canadian tariffs on certain US goods entering the Canadian market.
On February 3, President Trump seemingly agreed to a 30 day reprieve of the new US tariffs. We came dangerously close to a trade war, and one may be 30 days away!
On February 3, 2025, the media reports that Mr. Trump is asking for unhindered access for US banks into the Canadian market.
If the US tariffs are (again) imposed, the people of Canada will suffer dire economic and other consequences. Canadians will likely suffer pressure by the new US government on other fronts as well.
The Canadian Parliament is the law-making authority for our country and the federal institution with the power to make laws, to raise taxes, and to authorize government spending.
We are in a period of turmoil and uncertainty. We need a strong, empowered, legitimate, and robust government, supported by a sitting and functioning parliament, to deal with these very grave, complex and delicate matters.
The essential legitimacy to do that, as it will be seen inside of Canada, in Washington DC, and everywhere in the world, comes from a sitting and debating Parliament.
Therefore, we the undersigned Canadian business and community leaders, request the termination of prorogation and the immediate recall of Parliament, so that our government (with all its branches) may be working with legitimacy and robustness to confront head-on the current crisis and be able to adapt to our new reality and, most importantly, deal productively with the US government.
And we have signed,
---------------------------———————————————----
Au très honorable premier ministre Justin Trudeau:
Le 6 janvier 2025, vous avez annoncé votre démission en tant que premier ministre du Canada, et cette démission prendrait effet dès que le Parti libéral du Canada aurait choisi son nouveau chef.
Le processus de sélection du prochain chef du Parti libéral est en cours.
À cette même date (6 janvier), vous avez annoncé la prorogation du Parlement canadien jusqu'au 24 mars 2025. Notre parlement reste prorogé à cette date.
Le 1er février 2025, le gouvernement américain a annoncé l'imposition d'un tarif massif, injustifié et inéquitable de 25 % sur les produits canadiens entrant sur le marché américain, et d'un tarif de 10 % sur l'énergie canadienne.
Depuis son élection, le président Trump a exprimé à plusieurs reprises son désir ardent de voir le Canada devenir le 51e État des États-Unis d'Amérique.
Le 1er février 2025, vous avez riposté en imposant des tarifs canadiens sur certains produits américains entrant sur le marché canadien.
Le 3 février, le président Trump a apparemment accepté un sursis de 30 jours sur les nouveaux tarifs douaniers américains. Nous nous sommes dangereusement rapprochés d'une guerre commerciale, et elle pourrait bien être imminente dans 30 jours !
Le 3 février 2025, les médias rapportent que M. Trump demande maintenant un accès sans entrave des banques américaines au marché canadien.
Si les tarifs américains sont (à nouveau) imposés, la population canadienne subira de graves conséquences économiques et autres. Les Canadiens subiront probablement également des pressions de la part du nouveau gouvernement américain sur d’autres fronts.
Le Parlement canadien est l’autorité législative de notre pays et l’institution fédérale qui a le pouvoir de faire des lois, d’augmenter les impôts et d’autoriser les dépenses publiques.
Nous traversons une période de troubles et d’incertitude. Nous avons besoin d’un gouvernement fort, habilité, légitime et robuste, soutenu par un parlement en place et fonctionnel, pour traiter ces questions très graves, complexes et délicates.
La légitimité essentielle pour le faire, comme on le verra au Canada, à Washington DC et partout dans le monde, vient d’un Parlement en place et qui débat.
Par conséquent, nous, les chefs d’entreprise et dirigeants communautaires canadiens soussignés, exigeons la fin de la prorogation et le rappel immédiat du Parlement, afin que notre gouvernement (avec toutes ses branches) puisse travailler avec légitimité et robustesse pour affronter de front la crise actuelle et être en mesure de s’adapter à notre nouvelle réalité et, surtout, de traiter de manière productive avec le gouvernement américain.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
John Ruffolo
Founder, Maverix Private Equity
Chris Arsenault
President & CEO, Inovia Capital
Shahir Guindi
Chair Emeritus, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP
Fred Lalonde, Founder, CEO, Hopper Inc.
John Bitove, Chairman & CEO, Obelysk
Mike Wessinger, Executive Chairman, PointClickCare
John Bianchini, Chair and CEO, Hatch
Leerom Segal, Group Chairman & CEO, Klick Health
Adam Belsher, CEO, Magnet Forensics
Michael Serbinis, CEO and Founder, League
Neil Cawse, CEO, Geotab Inc
Julie Di Lorenzo, President & CEO, Mirabella Development Corporation
Sam kolias, CEO / Chair Boardwalk Reit
Daniel Daviau, CANACCORD GENUITY GROUP INC
Lloyd Segal, CEO Repare Therapeutics
Louis Têtu, CEO Coveo
François Dion, CEO, Levio Conseils inc
Aaron Stern, Managing Partner and CIO, Converium Capital
Erol Uzumeri, Founder, Searchlight Capital
Martin Couture, Senior special advisor, Sanimax
Matthew Rendall, CEO & Co-founder, Clearpath Robotics
Steven Leonard President and CFO, Aimia Inc.
Max Lytvyn, Founder, Grammarly
François de Gaspé Beaubien, Chairman, ZoomMedia
Shaun Francis CEO and Chairman, Medcan Health Management
Boris Wertz, Founding Partner, Version One Ventures
Cherif Habib, CEO, Dialogue Health Technologies Inc.
Jonathan Ferrari CEO, Goodfood Market Corp
Sarah Segal, CEO, DAVIDsTEA
Richard Abboud, Founder & CEO, Forum Asset Management
Samuel Duboc, Chair and CEO
Greg Ogrodnick CEO Circle Cardiovascular (Retired)
Mitch Joel, Six Pixels Group
Alexandre Leclerc, Poka CEO
Juliana Lima, President, Figueira Capital Inc.
Steven Kramer, CEO, WorkJam, Inc
Mark Nawacki, President, Searchlight Pharma
Simon De Baene, Co-Founder and CEO, Workleap
Michael Litt, CEO - Vidyard
Liran Belenzon, CEO, BenchSci
Ash Singh, Equitybuilders
Benoit Lemieux, Président, GroupMe bcl
Andrew Graham, Co-Founder & CEO, Borrowell
Franco Prevedello, President, Prevedello Developments
Thomas Terrats, Cofounder and CEO, Vessel
Damien Steel, CEO, Deep Sky
Kim G C Moody, Moodys Private Client / Moodys Tax
Marc Ghobriel, CEO, Life House
Mark McQueen Founder, Wellington Growth Partners
Rhiannon Davies, Founding & Managing Partner, Sandpiper Ventures
Sanjiv Samant, Founder & Managing Partner, PROPELR Growth
Frantz Saintellemy, President & CEO, LeddarTech
Jebb Nucci, CEO, iCubic Inc.
Angela Nowacin, Founder, Agency Group Sports & Entertainment
Vicken Kanadjian, Managing Director, Cesium Telecom
Hussein Fazal, CEO. Super.com
Francois Arbour, Tech Investor and Entrepreneur
Joanna Griffiths Founder & President, Knix
Simon Ferragne, CEO, TrackTik Software
David Nault, Co-Founder and General Partner, Luge Capital
Frederic Bastien, Managing Partner, Amiral Ventures
Nectarios Economakis, Partner, Amiral Ventures
Kurtis McBride, CEO, Miovision Technologies Inc.
Duncan Munn, Chair & CEO Elevate Export Finance
Cody Church, CEO and Founder - Clear North Capital
Michael Stern, President ExecSuite
Jason Atkins, CEO, 360insights
Jean-Marc Bougie, CEO, DNA Partners and concerned parent for the next generations
Michael Nessim, Managing Director, Greenhill & Co.
John Wahba, CEO, Turris Corp.
Alkarim Jivraj, President & CEO, Espresso Capital
John Esplen, President, The Humberview Group
Whitney Rockley, Managing Partner, McRock Capital
Bruno Roy Founder, Pembridge Square Holdings
Prashant Pathak, Chair & CEO, Ekagrata Inc.
Jean Luc Lavergne CEO, Grop Lavergne
Fernand Taras, CEO, RocklandMD
James Neufeld CEO & Founder, samdesk
Bruno Rizzuto, CEO Stream Systems Inc.
Elias Tanios Farah, CEO MEDFAR
Pat DiCapo, Founder & CEO, PowerOne Capital Markets Limited
Peter van der Velden, Founder & Managing Partner, Lumira Venturs
Roberto Bellini, Managing Partner, BSQUARED Capital
Adel Boulos, CEO Amira
Sophie Forest, Managing Partner, Brightspark Ventures
Francois Rainville, CEO & President, Averna
Allen Lau, Co-Founder and Opertaing Partner, Two Small Fish
Shiraz Kapadia, CEO Invixium
Amar Varma, CEO & Founder, Mantle
David Owen, President, Mondev
Christopher Pfaff, CEO Pfaff Automotive / Lithia
Lisa Downey, Vice President, Clarivate
Dan Sternberg, President, DPS Capital Inc.
Mike Cegelski, Chairman, Panache Ventures
William Jegher, Partner, EY
Jean-Francois Marcoux, Managing Partner, White Star Capital
Marvin Loewen, Founder
Peter Kiss, President and CEO / Morgan Construction
Mina Mekhail, CEO and Founder, Freshr Technologies
Sam Ramadori, CEO, BrainBox AI
Amar Varma, CEO & Founder, Mantle
David Owen, President Mondev
Paul Lee, Managing Partner, Vanedge Capital
Norm Steinberg, Corporate Director
Arnold Cohen, Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP
Max Lytvyn, Founder, Grammarly
David Vallieres, President & CEO Valmetal Group
Daniel Robichaud, Chairman Yieldtechmologies.com
David Waddell, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, W Investments Group
Nicolas Belanger, W Investments Group
Claude Germain, Managing Partner, Rouge River Capital
Mike McCauley, Cofounder & GP, Garage Capital
Dylan Larose, Canadian
Meredith Cartwright, High Level Capital
Sam Pillar, CEO Jobber
Matt Golden, Founding Partner-Golden Ventures
Chad Bayne, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP
Josh Domingues, Founder & Executive Chairman, Flashfood
Robert Saad, Nesta manufacturing Inc
Luc Paquet, Fondation Youkali
Rohit Gupta President, Rohit Group
Jason L.S. Birnboim President, Beaux Properties International Inc.
Craig Hunter, Operator Ventures
Kunal Bajaj Canready Consultants Inc.
Stefano Picone CFO, Conavi MEdical
Brandon Vlaar, Mangrove Systems
Neil Mitchell, Glenoban Ventures Corp.
Neil Selfe, CEO INFOR Financial
Dan Burgar CEO, Frontier Collective
Blair Jordan CEO, HighMont Advisors Inc.
Garnet Lasby Massilly North America Inc.
Brian McGlynn CEO, Wealth Write.Up
Dustin Plett Chief Sales Officer, Balance
Ali Nawab Founder and CEO, Agentnoon
Howard Lis Executive Chairman, CommerceBear Inc.
Wayne Pommen CRO Affirm, CEO PayBright
David Suydam, CEO Architech
Jeff Adamson, Co-Founder & CCO Neo Financial
Peter Misek CEO, Framework Venture Partners
Roger Kirkness CEO, Convictional
Mandy Gilbert, Founder & CEO, Creative Niche Inc.
Jaime Leverton, CEO JL Ventures and Advisory
John Ng, CEO JNE Group of Companies
Alfan Jetha Founder and Director, DrugSmart Pharmacy Group
Dean Mosca, Partner Infusd Inc
Jordy Koski, Middle Cove Capital
Bryan Watson, Managing Director, CleanTech North
Alvin Leung, Chief Commercial Officer, Systemic Trust
Neil Grunberg, Managing Partner, Storytime Capital
Ryan kimel, Storytime Capital
Lauren Epstein, Vice-President, Epstein Enterprises; Partner, Storytime Capital
Nicholas Thadaney, Partners Capital Corporation
Josh Ogden, CEO, AVSS - Aerial Vehicle Safety Solutions Inc.
Maria Marcakis, Principal
Suky Sodhi, President, Professional Selection Inc
Jeff Waldman, Founder, ScaleHR
Jessica Smith, Founder, Savant Recruitment
Paul Childerhose CEO, Maple Peak Group Inc
Ryan Luttrell CEO, Outside The Box
Devin Tuinstra CEO, Wily Global
Jason Tham CEO, Nulogy
Brian Ginsler President & CEO, Ginsler Wealth
Sabrina Knez Founder, Transformation HR Consulting
Patrick Dunn Founder, Branch Academy
Paul Caton MD, Matchbox Consulting