OTTAWA—The Canadian government adopted a cautious yet determinedly optimistic tone in the face of a vow by newly inaugurated U.S. President Donald Trump to put “only America first.”

Shortly after Trump delivered his populist, protectionist message to Americans and a worldwide audience, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau congratulated him, highlighted common ground and pledged to work with the Trump administration.

In a written statement, Trudeau said Canada’s government looked forward to co-operating with all levels of government in the U.S. to “restore prosperity to the middle class on both sides of the border.”

It was not just a matter of formality, but of strategic necessity.

“Canada and the United States have built one of the closest relationships between any two countries in the world. This enduring partnership is essential to our shared prosperity and security,” Trudeau said in his statement.

The prime minister delivered the same message in talks with mayors of Canada’s biggest cities on Friday, and later in a private conference call with Canada’s premiers and territorial leaders, urging all to work with their counterparts on keeping an open dialogue with the new Trump administration.

Trudeau did not attend the inauguration of the 45th president in Washington — prime ministers haven’t attended other past inaugurations, either — but four of his key cabinet players on Canada-U.S. relations did, and carried the same message to anyone who’d listen.

From the Canadian Embassy on Pennsylvania Ave., down the road from the Capitol building, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, her parliamentary secretary Andrew Leslie, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan and Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr watched the installation of what senior Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway called “a new sheriff in town.”

In an interview with the Star, Sajjan acknowledged it was something to “see first-hand the peaceful transition of power.”

Sajjan downplayed any concerns and underscored the close economic, security and defence ties between the two nations. He and others framed Trump’s emphasis on American jobs as an “opportunity” for Canada to demonstrate how many jobs in 35 states “are largely dependent on Canadian trade.”

“We need to be able to continue to have a truly positive working relationship with the U.S. government,” said Sajjan. “We’ve done that throughout the years and we need to continue with that.”

“Of course there will be disagreements and certain challenges moving forward but we need to be able to look at where are those mutually agreeable connection points.”

That “get-to-know-us” pitch to the new Trump administration has already begun. While Sajjan said he doesn’t yet personally know Trump’s nominee for defence secretary, Gen. James Mattis, he said he respected his work writing the manual on counter-insurgency strategies. Sajjan said he applied the same tactics when he deployed with the U.S. 10th Mountain Division in Afghanistan, and looked forward to working with Mattis, stressing Canadian intelligence, security and defence forces work in concert with the U.S. to deal with and prevent threats and would continue to do so.

Sajjan turned aside questions about whether he had concerns about Trump’s military or foreign policy. “Just today President Trump has been sworn in and we will have to wait and see what the decisions his administration makes, where it impacts, how it impacts foreign policy around the world and from that we will make our decisions accordingly.”

But he emphasized Canada would be guided by its own laws, international law, and “Canadian values.” Canada will continue to work within multilateral institutions like NATO, Sajjan said, adding Canada would not pull back from its commitment to deploy troops to Latvia as part of efforts to deter Russian aggression in eastern Europe. “Canada remains committed to that as we are also committed to Ukraine as well.”

Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland struck many of the same chords in interviews Friday, delivering a message she said was for Canadians and others in the world who might be watching.

“We are two different countries, we have different values, we elected different governments, but that in no way precludes Canada having an effective business-like mutually beneficial working relationship with this Administration,” she said on CBC’s Power and Politics. “That is something the prime minister and our whole team has been laying the foundation for ahead of today.”

Earlier Friday before Trump spoke, Trudeau urged mayors of Canada's biggest cities to keep close ties with their American counterparts. He said such relationships will be especially important as both nations work “constructively and productively” on issues “that matter deeply to citizens on both sides of the border.”

And despite assurances from his cabinet commerce nominee that a Trump administration would not slap a 35-per-cent border tax on goods from Canada going into the U.S., Trump’s pledge in his inaugural address to “follow two simple rules: Buy American and Hire American” raised red flags.

Trudeau held a conference call with provincial and territorial leaders and “they reiterated the importance of the Canada — U.S. relationship and discussed the opportunities presented by the new Administration,” according to the PMO.

A provincial source said Trudeau updated premiers on work his government has done so far to work with the Trump administration. Several premiers discussed their concerns about the future of the North American Free Trade Agreement and trade in softwood lumber.

As part of his efforts to maintain American jobs, Trump has vowed to renegotiate, even toss out, trade deals, including the North American Free Trade Agreement.

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That vow was highlighted Friday morning as the presidential transition occurred and Trump’s priorities were outlined on the White House website under headings such as “America First Energy Plan,” and “American First Foreign Policy.”

The section titled “Trade Deals Working for All Americans,” underscores Trump’s commitment to act on trade deals.

“If our partners refuse a renegotiation that gives American workers a fair deal, then the president will give notice of the United States’ intent to withdraw from NAFTA,” the White House website said.

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