OTTAWA -- Justin Trudeau will skip Canada Day festivities on Parliament Hill this year.
Instead, the prime minister will be on the road, celebrating Canada's 151st birthday in three cities in three different regions.
Trudeau is scheduled to visit Leamington, Regina and Dawson City, Yukon -- all on July 1.
He will still put in an appearance on Parliament Hill but it will be via video from Leamington.
Spokesman Cameron Ahmad says Trudeau wants to spend Canada day with "Canadians and their families" in parts of the country he doesn't often get a chance to visit.
But in at least two of the three cities, the tour seems designed to reflect the looming trade war between Canada and the United States.
Trudeau will meet steelworkers in Regina, who've been hard-hit by President Donald Trump's imposition of crippling tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.
And in Leamington, he'll be meeting workers at the Highbury Canco, which produces 100 different products for Kraft, Heinz and other major food companies.
Ketchup is one of many U. S. goods upon which the Trudeau government intends to slap $16.6 billions worth of retaliatory tariffs, starting on July 1. The Leamington visit appears aimed at reminding Canadians they can still get made-in-Canada ketchup, on which no tariff will apply.
-With files from The Canadian Press
