Canadian Conservative leader Andrew Scheer is still insisting his party could have negotiated a “better” U.S-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA).
Conservatives would not have had to sign the new #USMCA, because we would have negotiated a better deal for Canadians. pic.twitter.com/JboIoPHMc4
— Andrew Scheer (@AndrewScheer) October 14, 2018
But Scheer hasn’t explained how his deal could have been better, though his Members of Parliament suggest Canada made too many concessions to President Donald Trump. (RELATED: Canada Joins Free Trade Deal With Mexico And US)
With Parliament resuming Monday after a week-long break for Canadian Thanksgiving, the Trudeau government will be looking for some specifics from the Official Opposition Party leader, who has just returned from a trip to India.
“The Liberals would like Canadians to believe that this is somehow NAFTA 2.0,” Scheer said during the House of Commons Question Period earlier in October. “In reality, this is NAFTA 0.5.”
Former Liberal MP Leona Alleslev speaks to reporters while Conservative leader Andrew Scheer looks on. Alleslev held a news conference to announce she had become a Conservative MP on Sept. 17, 2018. Daily Caller photo by David Krayden.
One thing USMCA did not fix is the U.S. tariffs on Canadian aluminum and steel, but Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, who did most of the negotiating for her government, says Scheer is opposing the new deal for sheer political gain. (RELATED: Canadian Foreign Minister Negotiating NAFTA Participates In Forum Linking Trump To Dictators)
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau listens to Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland during news conference in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, May 31, 2018. REUTERS/Chris Wattie
“Andrew Scheer is showing a lot of Monday morning courage,” Freeland told The Canadian Press. “He and Stephen Harper argued repeatedly that Canada should drop our demands and rush into a bad deal. We refused to capitulate, we held out, and we got a good deal for Canadians.”
Former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper is relatively optimistic about the new trade deal, saying it could actually help Canada better negotiate a trade deal with China.
