Poilievre pushes for release of failed U.S. trade deal

Federal Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling on the Liberal government to share the terms of last month's failed U.S. trade deal. "There must have been a written record of that deal and there's no reason not to share it with Canadians," Poilievre told reporters in Regina on Monday. "They deserve to see it so that they can see what we're fighting for and what we're fighting against," he said during a news conference at The Hotel Saskatchewan. Prime Minister Mark Carney advised his government's negotiators to abandoned trade talks with the U.S. late on Aug. 21, publicly citing last minute changes to an agreed-up on deal that made it "unfair" for Canadians. In the days that followed, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that his country's northern neighbour would be subject to an array of widespread and wide-ranging tariffs. Carney promised to respond dollar-for-dollar on Tuesday. Poilievre, who spent the Labour Day long weekend in the Prairie province capital, said Carney had "obviously" done economic analysis on Canada's counter tariffs. "No government would impose billions of dollars of tariffs without having studied what the impact would be on Canadian consumers. We're just asking him to share that data with Canadians," said Poilievre. "We're asking him to release the full calculation of the cost burden on struggling Canadian families and businesses." He denounced Trump's tariffs and reiterated messages around the importance of national unity. "We cannot control President Trump's tweets, tariffs or trolling," Poilievre said. "We can only control what we do here at home. The best way to fight back is outcompete the U.S. Build our strength and use that strength to push for tariff-free trade." Poilievre took the opportunity to promote the economic action plan the Conservatives released on Aug. 25. He talked about cutting "wasteful spending on bureaucracy, consultants, foreign aid, fake refugees, corporate welfare" and suggested scrapping a number of taxes, including on carbon, home-building and capital gains when reinvested. He also spoke of building "a strategic energy and oil reserve" that could be used "as leverage to fight for tariff-free trade." Poilievre acknowledged the difficulties of negotiating with Trump and the prospect that the president could expand the scope of limitations against Canada. "If the tariff dispute escalates even more, then we will have to focus on what we can control here at home." The Regina Leader-Post has created an Afternoon Headlines newsletter that can be delivered daily to your inbox so you are up to date with the most vital news of the day. Click here to subscribe. With some online platforms blocking access to the journalism upon which you depend, our website is your destination for up-to-the-minute news, so make sure to bookmark leaderpost.com and sign up for our newsletters so we can keep you informed. Click here to subscribe.