OTTAWA: There’s a “snowball’s chance in hell” that Canada will merge with the United States, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday, while his foreign minister added the nation will “never back down” from threats by Donald Trump.

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Trudeau and Foreign Minister Melanie Joly’s comments followed the US President-elect’s statement at a news conference about using “economic force” in pursuit of his unlikely plan for Canada to merge with the United States.