The PM breaks ethics laws and the state of NAFTA talks as 2017 draws to a close
North Korea might have been the top item on Rex Tillerson's agenda when he came to Ottawa this week, but the U.S. Secretary of State didn't leave town before hearing first about the ongoing NAFTA negotiations.
"We are, of course, continuing to point out to our American counterparts that that relationship is very, very important and that each side has something to lose if we don't find an agreement," the chair of the cabinet committee on Canada-U.S. relations, Transport Minister Marc Garneau, told The House.
The sixth round of negotiations is set to take place in January in Montreal.
Clear divisions emerged during the latter rounds, but Garneau argued that tensions are to be expected at this stage.
"When you're going to have negotiations between two countries on a trade relationship there's always going to be positions taken. After the niceties of the initial rounds you get down to the real work of focusing on the things that are particularly important to you," he said.
"Canada will not move on certain things, and we'll see what happens, and in the end it has to be a trade deal that is good for both countries."
America's NAFTA red lines may be a negotiation tactic
Some of the more contentious proposals put forward by American negotiators during the ongoing NAFTA talks may be a negotiating tactic, suggests Republican congressman Kevin Cramer, an early Donald Trump supporter.
Canadian officials have been open in calling the U.S. push to change the rules of origin — which could be detrimental to the Canadian auto industry — and demands for a five-year sunset clause in the deal sticking points. Some US business groups called them "poison pills."
"There are some areas where some extreme proposals have been put forward, and these are proposals that we simply cannot agree to," Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said following the fifth round of negotiations in Mexico City.
- Canada 'prepared for the worst' amid squabbles over NAFTA, Freeland says
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Trump says Trudeau left out lumber, energy while talking trade numbers
"He really is sometimes more flexible than it appears," Cramer told The House.
The Congressman from North Dakota knows Donald Trump well, and was at one point rumoured to be his pick for energy secretary.
"When he does lay down bright lines, he generally doesn't cross them until he absolutely has to," he said, adding that Trump clearly wants a better deal, but that doesn't mean he won't compromise.
The key, Cramer added will be if the business community gets its message through to the president.
"The real influencers can be those manufacturers and those businesses," he said.
Will 2018 around the corner mid-term elections fast approaching in the U.S., Cramer remains optimistic that the new year will be a new deal.
"I guess I do expect a deal before then (mid-terms)," he said.
Is Justin Trudeau's apology enough?
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's apologized for his actions after the federal ethics watchdog found he violated four provisions of the Conflict of Interest Act when he vacationed on a private island owned by the Aga Khan last Christmas season. But that may not be enough, according to University of Toronto's ethics expert Andrew Stark.
After investigating the prime minister for the better part of a year, outgoing Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson released her decision on Wednesday.
She found that besides the post-Christmas trip, Trudeau had also accepted a vacation on the island for himself and his family in December 2014, and his wife Sophie Grégoire Trudeau set up a trip to the island in March 2016 with a friend of hers and their children.
"When Mr. Trudeau, as prime minister, accepted the gifts of hospitality from the Aga Khan and the use of his private island in March and December 2016, there were ongoing official dealings with the Aga Khan, and the Aga Khan Foundation Canada was registered to lobby his office," Dawson's office said.
"Therefore, the vacations accepted by Mr. Trudeau or his family could reasonably be seen to have been given to influence Mr. Trudeau in his capacity as prime minister."
You can fall afoul of the conflict of interest law and still be a decent person. What you should do is acknowledge it immediately and take efforts to remedy it. The consequences for the Prime Minister, because he didn't do that, are going to be political, and Canadians are going to have to look at the fact that the arguments that he made to the Ethics Commissioner showed an incredibly legalistic approach to what was really a more fundamental problem of how you should conduct yourself in office and they'll have to judge that in the context of other controversies that the government is in. And those are the consequences," Stark told The House.
Trudeau told reporters on Parliament Hill Wednesday he regretted not taking proactive precautions to ensure there was no conflict of interest or appearance of conflict of interest.
The Insiders look back on 2017
What did The Insiders make of the 2017 political year?
We convened David Herle, principal partner at the Gandalf Group, Kathleen Monk, principal at Earnscliffe, and Jaime Watt, executive chair of Navigator Ltd, to discuss the main storylines of 2017, the most important story that went under-reported during the year, as well as the biggest political coups and blunders of the past twelve months.
Main storylines:
David Herle: "It's what's been going on in Alberta. Jason Kenney in forging together, sort of against their will, the two conservative parties in Alberta has reconfigured politics there in a way to could result in a change of government. I'm not saying the NDP are going to lose the election, but I'm saying that Jason Kenney has put in place the most favourable circumstances with which to beat them. And the election of Jason would have a very significant impact, and change on the nature of federal-provincial relations and the working of the federation going forward."
Jaime Watt: "The biggest political storyline of the year is Prime Minister Trudeau's handling of the Trump dossier. I think it's incredibly important for Canada both domestically and from a foreign policy basis. I think given the fact that we could have been just run over by the Trump steamroller, I think what the prime minister has done, what minister Freeland has done has been actually quite spectacular. And if they can pull this off, that's, I think, guaranteed reelection for another four years."
Biggest political blunder:
DH: "Almost everything about the Kevin O'Leary candidacy is a strategic blunder."
"A guy who was writing letters to prime ministers and premiers, and calling them out on issues, has essentially disappeared from Canada, disappeared from Canadian politics with his reputation completely in tatters."
Kathleen Monk: "It's got to be the strategic blunder that was the communications roll-out, and the failure to manage expectations around Morneau's tax plan. Any political operative knows when you're going to attack the tax system or really have any kind major policy change like that that affects many stakeholders, having a bullet-proof message, and really understanding where your stakeholders are going to go on certain issues is crucial."
Best political play:
DH: "There's a new government in Canada, out in British Columbia. That's a result of the NDP beating a very tough and savvy Liberal campaign team lead by Christy Clark, and then convincing the Green Party to join them in what appears to be a pretty strong coalition government. So my best political play of the year goes to (B.C. NDP leader and premier ) John Horgan, who took power.
KM: "There was very important moment that happened on November 28. That was when Justin Trudeau stood up in the House and delivered an apology to the LGBTQ community for basically 25 years of the public service... members being drive out because of how they identified sexually. It was important moment, there weren't a lot of dry tears in the House that day."