BACKTRACK ON THE VICTORY LAP — “The one thing we’ve learned is that President Trump, at moments, can be unpredictable,” Finance Minister DOMINIC LEBLANC said Monday evening after news that DONALD TRUMP’s tariff threat was back on. LeBlanc addressed the media in the lobby of Le Château Montebello, where Trudeau ministers are gathered for a Cabinet retreat. Chiefs of staff and press secretaries had been hanging in the hotel lobby when their phones buzzed with news that Trump had mused — while signing an executive order — that 25 percent tariffs on Canadian goods could take effect as early as Feb. 1. Or maybe April 1, depending on your interpretation of the executive order the president signed Monday. When Finance Minister MÉLANIE JOLY and LeBlanc emerged in front of the cameras, hotel guests watched from a second-floor balcony with wine glasses in hand. “We have spent the last number of weeks preparing potential response scenarios for the government of Canada in partnership with provinces and Canadian business leaders and union leaders,” LeBlanc said. “Our country is absolutely ready to respond to any one of these scenarios.” Joly called on “every single political leader across the board” to stand united against Trump’s threats. “This is an important moment for Canadians,” she said. — Record scratch: The flurry of evening reaction offered a starkly different scene from earlier in the day. A national exhale followed morning reports that Trump was pulling back from a Day One promise to impose sweeping tariffs on imported goods. — Behind the scenes: Oh, what a difference a few hours makes. IN CASE OF EMERGENCY — Earlier Monday, Internal Trade Minister ANITA ANAND told Playbook that despite the promising news, the Liberal government would remain on guard. — When push comes to shove: Ottawa’s retaliatory arsenal could include the energy sector, she said. “I really want to stress this point, that the United States is dependent on Canada’s natural resources and we need to use that point to our advantage,” she added. Anand rhymed off statistics, including that 60 percent of American crude oil imports and 85 percent of U.S. electricity imports are from Canada. “Those are very large percentages,” she told Playbook. “Canada has a strong bargaining position when it comes to the issue of tariffs and counter-tariffs and we will not hesitate to use those tools if need be.” She hinted at disrupting the U.S. supply chain by limiting the flow of goods in the sectors of natural resources, raw materials, services and manufacturing. — Shaken, not stirred: When asked about the prospect of retaliating with tariffs on orange juice and alcohol, as some reports have indicated are on the table, Anand laughed: “We will be judicious at all times, and I think we all need to remember that Canada has distinct advantages in this negotiation.” The Liberal government says it has mapped out several scenarios depending on what lever Trump pulls. For now, it says it won’t negotiate in public. REWIND THE TAPE — At Montebello on Monday afternoon, ministers traded suits for jeans, and heels for sneakers. Indigenous Services Minister PATTY HAJDU lounged in the chalet near the media unbothered. Housing Minister NATE ERSKINE-SMITH, International Development Minister AHMED HUSSEN and Public Safety Minister DAVID MCGUINTY said they were feeling good. STEVEN GUILBEAULT called Trump’s decision to pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement for a second time “deplorable.” As the Post’s ANTOINE TRÉPANIER reports, the environment minister acknowledged there are alternatives to the “very unpopular” tax, and blamed the Conservatives for making it so. Hotel guests in bathrobes wandered the lobby as Joly and LeBlanc held a mid-afternoon scrum. — Pat on the back: Joly acknowledged the work Cabinet has done on its C$1.3 billion border plan. “It was all about the border, and we did the job on the border,” Joly told reporters. She said they’d received “good feedback” from Trump’s “border czar” TOM HOMAN over the weekend for adding two more helicopters at the Canada-U.S. border. “We have been working together with the incoming administration, literally, over the past month,” Canadian Trade Minister MARY NG told POLITICO on Monday morning in D.C. “We're getting encouraging comments back about Canada and America working seriously together on this.” — On the horn: Among the other Washington names Joly dropped as she talked about Canada’s efforts: Secretary of State MARCO RUBIO; Commerce contender HOWARD LUTNICK; Trump's pick for Secretary of Energy CHRIS WRIGHT; Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate JOHN THUNE; chair of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee JIM RISCH (R-ID); and Trump ally Sen. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-S.C.). BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD — Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU will speak to reporters first thing this morning. MATTHEW HOLMES of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce told Playbook that Canada can't always take Trump literally, but does have to take him seriously. “I don't want to start responding to every Whac-A-Mole distraction that comes out," Holmes said last night in Washington. But ignoring the president is not an option. "The sigh of relief that we may have all heard expressed this afternoon, it's natural, but I think the work remains to be done," he said. The Canadian American Business Council's BETH BURKE told us a 25 percent tariff "is at stark odds with the USMCA, which was negotiated and signed just a few short years ago." — Confab, assemble: Later today, Trudeau will chair his nascent council on Canada-U.S. relations. Auto Parts Manufacturers' Association President FLAVIO VOLPE, who sits on the council, was also in D.C. Monday. He told us the group's first conversation last week was "thoughtful" and "candid" — a place for "sober advice … from people who are accomplished in their own right, owe nothing to this government and … have a time-value arc that is really long term." The first meetup was all about hypotheticals. Now they have something to chew on. NEXT MAN UP — Liberal leadership hopeful MARK CARNEY fired off a statement at 11:12 p.m. that called Trump's tariffs, if implemented, a "blatant violation of our trade agreements" that "will demand the most serious trade response in our history." Carney also claimed the potential tariffs would be "illegal," and worthy of "dollar-for-dollar retaliatory tariffs … aimed where their impacts in the United States will be felt the hardest." — More strong words: "A tough response must be felt immediately by the United States, with no cards off the table." — Reminder: Carney's leadership rival, CHRYSTIA FREELAND, has promised a dollar-for-dollar response as her preferred path in case of tariffs. "If you force our hand, we will inflict the biggest trade blow that the United States has ever endured,” she said at her weekend campaign launch. | 
