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Q&A: A Canadian Conservative in Washington

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There is a small contingent of Conservative MPs in Washington, D.C., today for the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States.

Among them is Pierre Paul-Hus, MP for Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles and a member of the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association​.

Paul-Hus spoke with CBC's Daybreak just hours before he attended an inauguration party at the Canadian embassy.

Will you toast the new president?

We just want to work with the new administration. We just want to try to have a good relationship with them, because Canada is the closest ally of the United States.

So for us, it's very important to have a good relationship. The president can be Trump or Obama or someone else, we still have to work with them.

Former prime minister Stephen Harper gave a speech recently in which he said there was much uncertainty surrounding the foreign policy of the new administration. Do you agree with that assessment?

That's the major point right now. We don't really know, we don't know anything. We need to learn from the new president what his view for the future is, his view for the world.

I hope Trudeau's ministers will work hard to meet with their counterparts, to work with them, ask some questions quickly, to make sure they put Canada first. President Trump has talked about reopening NAFTA, and if he does it, we must be here, working with them as soon as possible.

Are there Conservative MPs that are really happy to see Donald Trump take power?

Some of them may like Trump just because he is Republican. They are not really for the guy, just for the change in administration, from Obama to another one.

Are we happy? It's hard to say. About some things, yes. But not really because Mr. Trump is there.

Donald Trump says NATO is obsolete. One of the things that really bothers him about NATO is countries like Canada that invest comparatively little in their defence and NATO. Trump says these countries are getting a free ride. Does he have a point?

Yes. I was at a NATO meeting two months ago in Turkey, and the same point was made by Secretary General [Jens] Stoltenberg. Three times he said Canada must put more money into defence.

My colleagues from the U.K. and Germany said, 'OK, maybe we have to look in the mirror and say Mr. Trump is not wrong.'

Everyone always waits for the U.S.A. for defence. Canada too.

We don't always have to wait for our allies. We have to be stronger by ourselves.

Each country in NATO is supposed to spend two per cent of the GDP on defence. We currently spend one per cent, $20 billion.

To get to two per cent we would need to spend $40 billion. Maybe we can get to between one and two per cent.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.