As a former premier of New Brunswick and Canadian ambassador to the United States, Frank McKenna has been through two free trade negotiations and countless tense moments.

But McKenna, now a business leader, said he's never seen this level of distrust of the United States government among Canadians.

"I think Canadians feel hurt, they feel betrayed by a best friend, perhaps I could put it that way, and they feel vulnerable and worried and all of the above," he said.

"Americans are still our friends, our allies, our neighbours, our cousins, and it's not Americans that we have an issue with here.

"But the government of the United States right now is betraying a relationship that has been a model for the world for the last 100 years."

U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to impose 25 per cent tariffs on imports of Canadian goods.

And while that threat is currently on pause until March, a separate 25 per cent tariff on all steel and aluminum imports is scheduled to come into effect March 12.

U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to impose 25 per cent tariffs on imports of Canadian goods. And he continues to call for Canada to become America's '51st state.' (Alex Brandon/The Associated Press)

Last week, Canada's 13 premiers were in Washington D.C. to talk to U.S. officials about the ongoing tariff threat.

McKenna said the delegation was powerful, with 13 premiers all representing different perspectives coming together in solidarity. 

Trump has also continued to repeat his call for Canada to be the United States's "51st state." He has also repeatedly referred to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as "Governor Trudeau."

McKenna said the threat of annexation has to be taken seriously because it continues to be repeated by a serious elected official, the president, but he said it shouldn't be taken literally.

"I think it's not going to be a military threat that we need to fear, I think he feels that he can roll over us economically, and that's not going to happen," said McKenna.

"I think he knows that Canada is going through a political transition period now, so he sees us as being a bit vulnerable.

"What he doesn't realize is the extraordinary fight that we have in our country, the pride that we have in our country, and the ability that we have in the country to come together."

McKenna said he doesn't believe Trump represents the opinions of most Americans in respect to Canada. 

McKenna said it was powerful to see Canada's premiers come together in solidarity for a recent delegation to Washington, D.C. (Ben Curtis/The Associated Press)

He said Trump and Elon Musk, a tech tycoon who has been appointed by Trump to cut government spending, are currently in a "honeymoon" stage. 

But McKenna said this won't be the case forever as more and more people get hurt by, and push back against, the measures Trump is taking.

For example, Chuck Grassley, a senior Republican senator from Iowa, has already pleaded for an exemption for potash if Trump moves forward with the tariffs because "family farmers get most of our potash from Canada."

And McKenna said another example is Susan Collins, a senior Republican senator from Maine, who argued that certain tariffs would impose a significant burden, citing a statistic that 95 per cent of heating oil used by most Maine residents comes from refineries in Canada.

"That's just two out of dozens and even hundreds of legislators who will start weighing in when their constituents are affected," McKenna said.

"So inevitably, there will be a turning point in the United States, and there will be pushback from Americans."

McKenna used Sen. Chuck Grassley and Sen. Susan Collins as examples when talking about officials pushing back against things Trump was doing. Both senators argued tariffs on certain products could hurt their constituents. (Susan Walsh/Associated Press, John McDonnell/Associated Press)

McKenna said he thinks Canada is still developing a plan of attack, but he also said the government needs to be careful not to negotiate against itself since there isn't a lot of clarity on whether this battle is over fentanyl, immigrants at the border, military spending, digital taxation or unfair trade.

LISTEN | Former N.B. premier says U.S. underestimates Canada's pride: 

Still, he said Canada needs to continue efforts at solidarity.

"We need a common message and we need people deployed into the United States speaking to the communities that President Trump listens to — Fox News, Sinclair Broadcasting Network, Joe Rogan, Newsmax, etc., and get our messages out."

McKenna said all of Canada's troops haven't been thrown into battle yet. He said it will include business leaders, trade unions and the entire public.

"I think we have to get to the point where the entire nation is mobilized behind this effort," he said.

"God, you know, we might have to end up relying on Justin Bieber and Avril Lavigne and Celine Dion … Wayne Gretzky and all of the other celebrities who live in the United States who are Canadians.

"But I think when all is said and done, Canadians will be prepared to rally and fight for our country and our level of intensity will be much higher than Americans, who don't understand even why they're in this fight."

Toronto-Dominion Bank has been ordered to pay a total of $3.09 billion US in fines after pleading guilty to multiple charges, including conspiracy to violate the Bank Secrecy Act and commit money laundering. 

The bank has also received a cease-and-desist order and non-financial sanctions from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), including an asset cap that put limits on its growth in the U.S. after it was found that TD had "significant, systemic breakdowns in its transaction monitoring program."

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said TD created an environment "that allowed financial crime to flourish." 

"By making its services convenient for criminals, it became one," he said in a press conference Thursday. "Today, TD Bank became the largest bank in U.S. history to plead guilty to Bank Secrecy Act program failures, and the first bank in history to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering."

He said TD admitted in its plea agreement it allowed three money-laundering networks to transfer more than $670 million US through TD Bank accounts over a six-year period, actions which many employees were aware of, yet went unaddressed. 

 

  TD Bank pleads guilty, fined $3 billion in historic U.S. money-laundering case

In the case involving five TD Bank employees, the DOJ stated that employees issued dozens of ATM cards to money-launderers, allowing for the laundering of approximately $39 million US. More than two dozen individuals have been charged by the Justice Department in connection with these schemes so far, including two TD bank employees. 

TD Bank to restructure, undergo monitoring 

The bank has agreed to a major restructuring of their anti-money-laundering program, as well as three years of monitoring and five years of probation. The implementation of any new programs or services in their U.S. branches will have to go through more stringent approval processes as well, as ordered by the OCC. 

The asset cap placed on TD Bank by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency will not apply to any of the bank's business in Canada or other countries. But it will curtail growth within the U.S., where TD is the 10th largest bank. 

Richard Powers, an associate professor at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, told CBC News prior to the ruling's announcement that approximately 25 per cent of TD's revenue comes from its U.S. operations. 

"They've been growing through acquisition," he said. "If that is put on hold or if that has restrictions put on it, how do they maintain that growth?"

Last month, the bank announced that Raymond Chun would replace Masrani upon his retirement next year. The outgoing chief executive said at the time that he took responsibility for shortcomings that occurred under his watch, and echoed those sentiments on a conference call with investors and media on Thursday.

"We should have done better," he said on the call. "We know what the issues are, we are fixing them as we move forward. We're ensuring that this never happens again."