Canada/U.S. Trade Negotiations: The Public's Need to Know

"On Trade, and in other ways, also they are among the worst Nations in the World to deal with."

"They feel entitled, and yet, WE DON'T NEED CANADA THEY NEED US!"

U.S. President Donald J. Trump

 

"Canadians must see it [the proposed agreement] to judge what options are on the table."

"[It's time for the prime minister to release the text of the deal]."

Conservative Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre

 

"If there was a draft text of any agreement that both governments have seen please release it The U.S. administration has seen [it]. Your government has seen it. Canadians deserve to see it."

"We are here to help and fight for a good result for Canadians. But we expect the Prime Minister to be transparent and open with Canadians about what the President offered and/or threatened in these talks."

"...We are asking for information that both the U.S. administration and your own government would already know, because both were involved in the back and forth. This information will allow all Canadians to debate and discuss the way forward as a country."

Conservative Member of Parliament Shuvaloy Majumder, shadow minister for Canada-U.S. relations 

Carney has a weak hand in Canada-U.S. Trade negotiations, Shuvaloy Majumder

 

What a truly awkward time for Parliament to be adjourned for its traditional summer break so that ostensibly Members of Parliament can be available to their home constituents rather than be gathered in the House of Commons to debate matters of great public interest in the ongoing conflict and contradictions between two North American trading partners. Canada-U.S.  relations have never in modern history been so fraught with the impending potential of economic travails as a result of injuriously steep tariffs imposed by the United States on Canadian goods and services.

 

With a matter of such grave vital interest to all Canadians, in that it directly impacts their already steep cost of living, issues that should be openly and transparently available for public consumption with accompanying explanations as required, remain an opaque mystery. News reportage, while hazarding possible scenarios informed by questioning the opinions and possible scenarios of impact on Canada's economy by trade and economic professionals and academics can only conjecture, since no release of actual discussions and tariff proposal settlements have been released.

 

The Liberal government has dominated the issue and made decisions on behalf of the country as they should and must as the current executive administrative government. Yet it behooves them to share what information they have not only with the official Parliamentary opposition, along with provincial premiers, with appropriate segments of the talks and subsequent disagreements being released to the public. A week has passed since the trade/tariff negotiations between the two sparring partners, Canada/U.S. called off the talks when Canada refused the last-call additions of an agreement set to be signed.

 

There is more than ample reason to suspend total belief in what this government, this Liberal prime minister offers publicly as a description of events and negotiations and the government's position. It may very well be true that the U.S. introduced last-minute measures, as PM Mark Carney contends, that proved impossible for Canada to accept. Limiting Canada's sovereign trade options with countries other than the U.S. as a demand by the U.S. would clearly be unacceptable, as would claims that the U.S. attempted to "restrict our protections of our language our culture, and in effect, our sovereignty. In short, they asked too much and offered too little"; a snappy line that Mr. Carney treated us with, but not much else. 

 

He was anything but forthright on a number of previous occasions, that later caught up with him. The most conspicuously in avoidance of truth and reality when he characterized the discussions between Canada and the United States over the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge linking Windsor, Ontario with Detroit, Michigan. He failed on that occasion to describe in entirety what the end result was that led to U.S. President Donald Trump finally permitting the bridge to open. A bridge whose cost was totally underwritten by Canada, which planned to recover investment costs over time through bridge tolls.

 

Gordie Howe International Bridge    CTV

 

When in reality, Donald Trump demanded that bridge tolls be shared immediately with the U.S., before Canada could recover its $6.4 billion outlay. The original agreement between Canada and Michigan, signed and delivered, for Canada to recoup its costs, then share half-and-half of the bridge tolls, and generously handing over half-ownership of the bridge to Detroit was summarily struck null and void by the American president. None of which details Mr. Carney disclosed, while characterizing the 'deal' with Washington, as a 'win' for Canada.

 

Member of Parliament Majumdar subtly reminded Mr. Carney of his election promises that he would be the only candidate that Canada could rely on to subdue the U.S. president's enthusiasm for flummoxing other world leaders by treating them as flunkies and imposing steep tariffs on their countries' hitherto trade relations with the U.S. He would, he asserted, have a trade agreement with the U.S. for Canada that would do this country proud. He, and only he, as a seasoned economist, a former governor of the Bank of England had the professional expertise to do the job creditably. 

"There have been no wins. U.S. tariffs on Canada are far higher than when the Prime Minister took office."

"As we move forward, it is critical that we maintain the trust and unity of our people with transparency on the efforts you have made to date, and about the circumstances of these negotiations that are so important for Canada."

Conservative Member of Parliamentary Opposition, Shuvaloy Majumdar 

Shuvaloy Majumder in the House of Commons  Still from Video