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Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, shown on June 25, said in a letter that Parliament’s duty is to hold government accountable.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling for Prime Minister Mark Carney to reconvene Parliament to get details on the proposed U.S. trade deal he rejected, and answers on how Canadians will be affected by his plans to hit back.
Poilievre, in a letter to Carney on Sunday, says it’s time for the prime minister to release the text of the deal because “Canadians must see it to judge what options are on the table.”
He also says Canadians need to know how much Carney’s trade and economic policies will cost them in higher groceries, gas and other prices.
In addition, Poilievre asks how Carney will protect steel, aluminum, lumber and auto manufacturing jobs threatened by tariffs.
Trade talks collapsed at last minute after U.S. commerce chief pressed for harsher terms, sources say
Carney suspended trade talks with the United States on Friday after accusing the U.S. administration of introducing measures that included restrictions on Canada’s ability to do deals with other countries, and he promised retaliatory tariffs in response to new U.S. ones that took effect Saturday.
Poilievre says in his letter that Parliament’s duty is to hold government accountable, and that job has never been more pressing.
“We must put the national interest first. The failure to secure a durable trade agreement, together with escalating tariffs, now threatens deeper economic pain on top of a decade of rising costs and zero economic growth in the Canadian economy,” Poilievre said.
“In a crisis that defines the future of our people and our country, Conservatives are ready to return to Parliament, to act with the urgency our people demand, and to put Canada first.”
Many of the points raised in Poilievre’s letter echo those raised Sunday by Canada-U.S. relations critic Shuvaloy Majumdar, who said that while his party supports the government’s decision to reject the deal, Parliament is in the dark about what was on the table.
Majumdar said he’s not asking for “negotiating secrets,” but rather information that both the Canadian and U.S. governments already know.
Poilievre said transparency is especially important, claiming Carney misled Canadians about the deal that was ultimately reached to open the Gordie Howe Bridge. He said the truth only became public when Canadians saw the deal.
“Canadians elect Parliament to defend their interests and decide the hard questions. Those questions can no longer wait,” he said in his letter.
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The U.S. introduced new 50-per-cent tariffs on billions of dollars’ worth of Canadian exports on Saturday. The new U.S. tariffs target $28-billion in Canadian goods ranging from hockey sticks and honey to essential oils and dairy products.
Carney responded that retaliatory tariffs will hit the U.S. starting Sept. 8, after Canada walked away from what he called a “bad deal.”
In a post early Sunday on his Truth Social account, U.S. President Donald Trump returned to mocking Canada as another U.S. state, saying “Canada wants the benefits of being a state, without being one.”
Other opposition parties on Sunday stopped short of calling for details of the rejected deal to be made public, but supported the idea of the government briefing party leaders, or MPs, on what’s been happening with the trade talks.
Carney on Saturday accused the U.S. administration of introducing measures in the final hours of negotiations that restricted Canada’s ability to do deals with other countries.
He told reporters the U.S. also added terms near the end of negotiations that restricted Canada’s protections of language and culture.
He also said the U.S. offered to lower tariffs on autos in exchange for other concessions, but said the offer didn’t include medium and heavy trucks.