OTTAWA — The Trudeau government briefed provincial premiers earlier this month on the contentious renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement and expects many of them to return to the U.S. to push the pact, sources say.
Federal cabinet ministers will also head south in the coming days to continue their full-court press for the deal, following the end of the fourth round of NAFTA talks that saw American negotiators drop bombshell proposals on dairy, autos and other issues that Ottawa views as non-starters.
Transport Minister Marc Garneau will attend Friday’s meeting of the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers meeting in Windsor and Detroit.
Government officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the trade talks, say these moves are not a just a response to the latest round of talks, which exposed massive gaps between American bargaining positions and those of Canada and Mexico
They say the effort has been long planned as part of a co-ordinated attempt to reach out to U.S. lawmakers, using premiers and cabinet ministers to target key states.
Sources say Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and David MacNaughton, Canada’s ambassador to the U.S., briefed the premiers on the latest NAFTA developments during the first ministers meeting two weeks ago.