Google’s former CEO says he’s worried about ‘wedges’ in U.S.-Canada relations

The chairman of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, said he is concerned that politics in the U.S. will drive various wedges in the historically excellent relations the country has had with Canada.

Alphabet Inc. chairman Eric Schmidt said the U.S. is currently focused on identity politics over value politics, in contrast to Canada.

Schmidt made the comments Thursday during an onstage chat with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at a Google-hosted conference in Toronto.

Get daily National news

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up

By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

WATCH: Is Canada being too nice with NAFTA?

4:35 Is Canada being too nice with NAFTA?

The former Google CEO added that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has been very successful and asked the Prime Minister about a timeline for when the negotiations will be complete.

Trudeau said there is unity in Canada across the political spectrum on this issue, and the country will not be pushed to take a bad deal.