The Conservative Member of Parliament for Hastings–Lennox and Addington–Tyendinaga is worried about the progress of trade talks between the two countries.
Shelby Kramp-Neuman is the Shadow Minister for Canada/US Trade and said her concern is rising as countries like China, the European Union and England have finalized trade deals with U.S. President Donald Trump.
“It’s almost like there is a strategic game of chess going on and the Canadian government is very focused on that, but I’m not sure who is playing with them.
“There doesn’t seem to be a positive level of correspondence between the president and prime minister right now. I’m concerned there is an absence of a coordinated Canadian response.”
She added Canadians are nervous about what could happen and would like the government to engage with stakeholders and the Conservative Party in a non-partisan matter to do what’s best for the country.
The International Trade Committee asked the Liberal government to resume committee meetings in order to hear testimony from those directly involved in trade negotiations, something rejected by the government.
“We should be back in the House debating this. We have to look at the bigger picture and too often parliamentarians look at the short game and this is a long game. There is a lot at stake here.”
Kramp-Neuman said she walked across the House of Commons when she was first named a shadow minister and spoke directly to Dominic LeBlanc, the minister in charge of Canada/US trade.
She asked if the pair could work together but the offer was not accepted.
“We did have some correspondence and it was minimal. I did go to Washington and had some key meetings with stakeholders there and I have thrown the olive branch out since then to Mr. LeBlanc and he hasn’t responded.”
Should goods continue to be affected by American tariffs, the two-term MP said the end result will be noticeable and negative.
“People’s lives will be affected. They will not be able to afford what they once could. People’s jobs will be affected if plants close down. Be it softwood lumber, auto, steel or aluminum, there are plants all over Canada and those industries will affect us wholeheartedly.”
Kramp-Neuman added another concern is the government is talking out of both sides of its mouth saying on one hand they are asking for the lowest tariff deal possible yet on the other the economy needs to diversify.
“The government needs to decide which one it’s going to be. Right now, there is no political appetite for us to be angry and divisive when we have a situation south of the border that needs to be dealt with. Let’s be the adults in the room and figure this out.”
