Energy minister makes the case for U.S.-Canada energy alliance in Washington [Video]

Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson — the latest Liberal to visit Washington in response to president-elect Donald Trump’s tariff threats — is making a pitch for a Canada-U. S. energy and resource alliance.

Wilkinson told American lawmakers Wednesday that the best way for the U.S. to protect its economic dominance and national security from China is to work with Canada.

“The U.S. cannot be energy-dominant without Canadian energy,” Wilkinson said during a panel discussion at the Wilson Center’s Canada Institute on Wednesday.

Trump intends to impose a 25 per cent tariff on all imports from Canada when he returns to the White House next week.

Wilkinson said that threat is “little bit difficult to understand.”

Canadian electricity powers the equivalent of six million American homes, the U.S. imports four million barrels of Canadian oil per day and Canada supplies natural gas to parts of the Pacific Northwest and …