‘Canadians deserve’ to know specifics of the trade deal Canada walked away from: Conservative MP

The Conservatives are calling on the federal government to lay out the full details of the proposed trade agreement with the U.S. that collapsed on Friday, arguing Canadians and Parliament deserve to know what was on offer that led to Canadian officials walking away from negotiations.

In a letter sent to Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc on Sunday and shared to social media, MP Shuvaloy Majumar reiterated Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s position that the official opposition supports the federal government’s decision to not sign an unacceptable agreement. But he said that support does not mean Canadians should stay in the dark about the negotiations.

“If there was a draft text of any agreement that both governments have seen, please release it,” the Conservative shadow minister for Canada-U.S. relations wrote. “The U.S. administration has seen. 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.”

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The letter comes after Canada and the United States failed to reach a trade deal before a new round of 50 per cent U.S. tariffs on approximately $29 billion in Canadian imports were enacted on Saturday.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said the U.S. introduced measures in the final hours that were unacceptable to Canada, including conditions that would limit the ability to negotiate trade with nations other than the U.S. and others that would “restrict our protections of our language, our culture, and in effect, our sovereignty.”

“In short, they asked too much and offered too little,” Carney said at a Saturday press conference.

U.S. officials have said otherwise, with U.S. Trade Representative Jameson Greer telling the New York Times Canada was offered reduced tariffs on steel, aluminum and autos and the elimination of a 10 percent tariff on softwood lumber.

Majumdar said he was not asking the government to reveal “negotiating secrets” or anything the Trump administration doesn’t already know.

“Rather, 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.”