The federal government knew it was in for a bumpy ride as it pursued a free-trade agreement with China, says the parliamentary secretary to Canada’s innovation minister, but it isn’t giving up.
David Lametti joined Vassy Kapelos on this weekend’s edition of The West Block, and said that although expectations were high that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau would announce the launch of formal talks last week, the fact that it didn’t happen shouldn’t be taken as a signal that Canada is done talking.
“We knew it was going to be difficult from the get-go,” Lametti said.
“We knew that it would take time, we knew that it would take a concerted effort by different people; the prime minster, different ministers … Hopefully, we’ll be able to reach a formal negotiation stage at some point soon, but we expected this to be complex.”
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Adding to the complexity is Canada’s push for better labour standards, better environmental standards and even elements linked to gender equality in all its future trade agreements. China has a different way of approaching trade, Lametti acknowledged, and the country is undoubtedly coming from a position of economic strength.
“They’re huge compared to us, and they’re a very different economy in the sense that they have state-owned enterprises … so we have to take that into account.”
While there was no “one sticking point” that held up the launch of talks last week, he added, trying to align government priorities hasn’t been easy.
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Officials in the prime minister’s office had tried to temper expectations the day before Trudeau left, but even Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains seemed confident that an announcement would be made.
The Liberals have had to balance their economic ambitions in China with serious concerns back home about the country’s record on human rights and press freedom, the latter exemplified by the aggressive behaviour of some Chinese officials toward Canadian journalists accompanying Trudeau on his overseas trip.
“I think there are differences, in terms of the practice, I think we have to admit that,” Lametti said of those concerns, adding that China “aspires” to do better.
Regardless, he said, Canada will forge ahead on a future trade pact.
“We think the process is by no means done. We are working forward.”
— Watch the full interview with David Lametti above