- The Washington Times - Tuesday, June 12, 2018

President Trump was rebuked by Canada’s House of Commons for lashing out at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after leaving the Gang of Seven summit in Montreal this weekend.

The House of Commons unanimously passed a motion Monday rejecting “disparaging ad hominem statements by U.S. officials,” taking aim at Mr. Trump and his advisers for tearing into Mr. Trudeau beginning moments after the president departed the G-7 summit on Saturday.

“I believe this was an important step to show the solidarity and united front of Canada’s Parliament against the deliberately divisive actions of the president of the United States after his visit to Canada and the G-7 meetings this weekend,” said MP Tracey Ramsey, a member of the New Democratic Party who proposed the motion.

“Thousands of Canadian workers and communities rely upon trade with our closest neighbor and ally, and it is incumbent for the entirety of Parliament to show stability and a united front, in these turbulent times,” Ms. Ramsey said in a statement.

Monday’s symbolic House vote was held after Mr. Trump criticized Mr. Trudeau over the weekend for vowing to retaliate against tariffs recently imposed by the U.S. on Canadian steel and aluminum products.

“I have made it very clear to the president that it is not something we relish doing, but it is something that we absolutely will do, because Canadians, we’re polite, we’re reasonable, but we also will not be pushed around,” Mr. Trudeau said during a press conference Saturday after Mr. Trump had already left the summit.

Mr. Trump responded to Mr. Trudeau on Twitter by calling him “dishonest” and “weak,” and the president’s surrogates subsequently amplified the attack during media appearances over the weekend.

“There’s a special place in hell for any foreign leader that engages in bad faith diplomacy with President Donald J. Trump and then tries to stab him in the back on the way out the door,” White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said in an interview Sunday.

In addition to rejecting the insults aimed at Mr. Trudeau, the measure passed Monday said that lawmakers “strongly oppose the illegitimate tariffs imposed by the U.S. government against Canadian steel and aluminum workers” and “stand in solidarity with the Government of Canada in its decision to impose retaliatory tariffs.”

“At this difficult moment in our history with our U.S. neighbors, Canadians need to know that all sides of this House stand united as one,” Ms. Ramsey said Monday.

• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.

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