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HUNTSVILLE, ONT. \u2013 Prime Minister Mark Carney and the country\u2019s premiers downplayed the importance of a looming Aug. 1 deadline in trade talks with the U.S. on Tuesday, saying the objective is to get the best possible deal for Canadians.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re complex negotiations and we\u2019ll use all the time that\u2019s necessary,\u201d Carney told reporters after meeting with premiers at the Council of the Federation gathering in Huntsville, Ont.<\/p>\n
Carney said the government will agree to a deal \u201cif there\u2019s one on the table that is in the best interests of Canadians.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said such a deal would be one \u201cthat preserves, reinforces and stabilizes\u201d the trade relationship between Canada and the U.S., and \u201calso one that doesn\u2019t tie our hands in terms of other things that we can do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carney was invited to join the premiers in Ontario\u2019s cottage country this week as they gathered to discuss eliminating internal trade barriers and U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s threat to impose 35 per cent tariffs on a wide variety of Canadian goods on Aug. 1.<\/p>\n
Carney told premiers that Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc will be in Washington, D.C., this week and said the federal government is \u201conly going to accept the best deal for Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also said the government is working to bring long-standing trade issues involving softwood lumber into the broader negotiations, if possible.<\/p>\n
At a press conference after the meeting on Tuesday afternoon, Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston said that while he\u2019d like to see a deal that eliminates tariffs altogether, \u201cwe\u2019re not in that world right now\u201d with Trump imposing levies on trade partners around the globe.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just have to be open-minded about what that might look like,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Carney said Tuesday\u2019s gathering offered a chance for the premiers to focus on ways to build a stronger economy. The Liberal government has passed legislation granting cabinet the power to fast-track major projects it deems to be in the national interest, and is set to open its major projects office by Labour Day.<\/p>\n
Premiers have submitted pitches for projects they\u2019d like to see fast-tracked, but Carney has said the government has not yet started assembling a list of projects. Houston said he hopes the projects office will be able to provide some clarity on that by the fall.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need you to work together to propose ideas and have consensus on the projects that you want to move forward,\u201d Carney told the premiers at the start of the meeting, adding that continuous engagement with Indigenous Peoples is a key part of that effort.<\/p>\n
The premiers met with First Nations, M\u00e9tis and Inuit leaders on Monday.<\/p>\n
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he believes Carney is close to signing off on a few major projects. His top priority is mining in the Ring of Fire region in northwestern Ontario, which is said to be replete with critical minerals.<\/p>\n
Ford came out of the meeting saying he believes Canada will strike a good deal with the U.S.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re standing behind the prime minister to make sure that he has a fair and free trade deal for Canada and every single province and territory, and I\u2019m very confident that\u2019s going to happen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
At the start of the meeting with Carney, Ford said he personally still wants Canada to match Trump\u2019s tariffs \u201cdollar for dollar, and hit him back as hard as we possibly can,\u201d adding strength is the only thing this president understands.<\/p>\n
He also said the federal government needs to be ready to support industries hit hard by the trade war, and Canada needs to onshore production of things like aluminum cans and steel beams to avoid tariffs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to send them a strong message. We don\u2019t have to take a back seat to anyone in the world, and we sure the heck don\u2019t have to take a back seat to President Trump,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Ford, who chairs the Council of the Federation, said Canadians are urging governments to move quickly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you know the biggest problem? (It\u2019s) government. Government is the single largest problem in moving things forward,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not the people, it\u2019s not the private sector, it\u2019s not First Nations, it\u2019s not unions, it\u2019s none of that. It\u2019s government, endless decades of bureaucracy and regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carney commended the premiers on the series of trade agreements they\u2019ve signed to open up access to internal Canadian markets.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday morning, Ford joined the premiers of Alberta and Saskatchewan in announcing a new memorandum of understanding calling for the construction of new pipelines using Ontario steel.<\/p>\n
The agreement also calls for new rail lines to be built to help ship critical minerals from yet-to-be approved mines in the Ring of Fire to Western Canada.<\/p>\n
Ford called the agreement a \u201cgame changer\u201d that focuses on shipping Western oil to refineries in southern Ontario and a new deep sea port in James Bay.<\/p>\n
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said she\u2019s heard from Carney that he wants to make Canada an energy superpower, and she wants him to drop \u201cnine bad laws\u201d she said are hurting the country\u2019s business investment climate.<\/p>\n
B.C. Premier David Eby was not invited to sign the agreement and said he didn\u2019t know the details. He was asked Tuesday whether his government is open to supporting the construction of an oil pipeline from Alberta to B.C.\u2019s northern coast \u2014 something it has vocally opposed in the past.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no project, there\u2019s no proponent, there\u2019s no private sector money involved that I\u2019m aware of,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen Premier Smith crosses those obvious hurdles to get a project done, then let\u2019s have those conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite that disconnect between western premiers, Ford made it clear at an afternoon press conference that the honeymoon is very much on between himself and Carney.<\/p>\n
\u201cFull disclosure, the prime minister stayed at my place (Monday night),\u201d he told reporters as Quebec Premier Fran\u00e7ois Legault chuckled in the background.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had dinner, we were up till 12:30 at night, chatting in front of the fireplace, solving all the world\u2019s problems.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a92025 The Canadian Press<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n