Federal Conservatives demand release of full details on rejected U.S. trade offer
Canada-U.S. relations critic Shuvaloy Majumdar says Parliament is in the dark about what was actually on the table, though he supports the government's decision to reject the deal.
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Federal Conservatives are calling on the government to release the complete details of the trade offer Canada rejected this week, saying lawmakers deserve to know what was negotiated even if they back the rejection.
In a letter to Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc, Canada-U.S. relations critic Shuvaloy Majumdar said Parliament lacks basic information about the deal's terms. "I'm not asking for negotiating secrets," Majumdar wrote, "but rather information that both the Canadian and U.S. governments already know."
The Conservatives support Prime Minister Mark Carney's decision to walk away from the talks. However, they argue that transparency is essential for Parliament to understand the government's negotiating position and assess whether the rejected terms might resurface in future talks.
The U.S. had concerns about Canada's support for French culture, the presence of French-language media online, and bilingual labeling requirements for products sold in Canada—issues that Carney cited as deal-breakers in his public statements. In an interview with the New York Times on Saturday, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the Americans offered to cut the 10 per cent tariffs on softwood lumber and lower steel tariffs from 50 to 25 per cent. Carney said the U.S. also added restrictive terms near the end of negotiations affecting Canada's ability to pursue trade deals with other countries.
