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Officials Correct Trudeau’s Bogus $1B Trade Deal Claim

David Krayden Ottawa Bureau Chief
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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “misspoke” when he claimed his trip to India netted $1 billion in trade deals for Canada, officials said Wednesday.

Officials from the Prime Minister’s Office corrected the statement, explaining how Canada will be on the short end of the trade deal: India will invest $250 into Canada while Canadian businesses will spend $750 million on financial ventures in India.

Toronto’s Brookfield Asset Management is accounting for $480 million of the Canadian portion, buying office space in Mumbai India. Brookfield’s media relations department did not respond to numerous queries from The Daily Caller regarding the anticipated purpose of the office space. The other major Canadian investor is Fairfax India Holdings Corp., which is spending $200 million for a majority share in the Catholic Syrian Bank in Kerala, India.

In return, Valiant Communiations has promised begin operations in Canada, Clarion Pharmaceutical committed to producing naturopathic health products and Vision Controls will expand to Ontario.

Trudeau was nonetheless upbeat about the possibilities, claiming, “This was really a win-win morning, a win-win day for all of us and I’m excited for the opportunities in the Canada-India friendship,” Trudeau told Chanda Kochhar, CEO of the Industrial Credit and Investment Corp. of India.

The prime minister’s trip has been fraught with controversy. Upon arrival, Trudeau was not met by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who sent a minor cabinet official in his place. The apparent snub was well publicized. Trudeau remains mired in a dispute with Indian politicians over the alleged presence of Sikh separatists in his cabinet, something Trudeau denied again Wednesday.

Critics have also dismissed the trip as a photo op with Trudeau and his family posing in front of famous Indian sites and locales.