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Trudeau government enlists Mulroney to help with the renegotiation of NAFTA

The Council of Canadians is calling on the Trudeau government to be open and transparent in the upcoming renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that is expected to begin on June 1.


So far, the Trudeau government has been anything but, there have been no public consultations on this issue, no substantive public comments on negotiating objectives, and no comments on ‘red lines’, areas that the government would not concede on to US President Donald J. Trump.


Now Postmedia Network columnist Tom Parkin writes, “Perhaps you saw the cringe-worthy video of former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney singing to U.S. President Donald Trump. In fact, Mulroney is doing a lot more than singing. It seems he’s speaking to Trump and contacting U.S. politicians on Trudeau’s behalf.”

He then highlights, “Transport Minister Marc Garneau has confirmed Mulroney isn’t being paid by the government of Canada for his efforts. But Mulroney’s not some retired old hand who’s just opening doors and telling stories about the 1990s trade negotiation experience. He’s an active businessman on the board of directors of several US and Canadian companies. Any number of them have an interest in NAFTA and Trump’s policies.”


He notes that despite “Mulroney [admitting] to a federal judicial inquiry to receiving $225,000 in cash – in $1000 bills, apparently – from Karlheinz Schreiber, an arms trader who promoted sales of Airbus aircraft… Trudeau has put Mulroney in a place of high trust – amid the billionaires, NAFTA tweaks and US President.”


And Parkins concludes with these troubling points, “Trudeau has provided very little information about Mulroney’s role. Canadians don’t know if Mulroney has been cleared by the PM or Cabinet to speak for Canada. We don’t know his objectives. We don’t know his sources of income. What security and conflict screening has been done. What confidential business information is being shared with him.”

To join the more than 4,300 people who have already sent a letter to Trudeau through our action alert to tell him that “NAFTA renegotiations cannot be another backroom deal”, please click here.