Drive-by Trudeau smear is vintage Stephen Harper
Stephen Harper as NAFTA bogeyman? Unpatriotic Canadian? No and no. But the former prime minister as trade guru? Definitely no.
The drive-by smearing of Justin Trudeau and the government’s performance in the ongoing and excruciatingly difficult tripartite trade talks is vintage Harper, a reminder of his view on all things Liberal and his track record on Canada-U.S. relations.
Whether this threatens a united — albeit wobbly — front on the question of trade with the bellicose and erratic Donald Trump administration is not particularly relevant.
This country is perfectly capable of debating free trade internally, and has done so before. It need not destabilize our negotiators or play into the hands of an American team playing something beyond hardball.
The pre-talks solidarity, the involvement of another former prime minister, Brian Mulroney, the appointment of former Conservative interim leader Rona Ambrose and former Harper minister James Moore on the government’s advisory board, the pro-trade visits to the U.S. by other Conservatives were all very nice, all very Canadian, but all very symbolic.
If other Conservatives cannot resist the urge to man their partisan ramparts when times get tough, well, that is a commentary on Conservatives, particularly those from the Harper wing.
Harper, in a memo to clients obtained by The Canadian Press, accuses the Liberals of downplaying the real threat by Trump of walking away from NAFTA, being too quick to reject some U.S. demands, aligning itself too closely with Mexico (“the U.S. is both irked and mystified by the Liberals’ unwavering devotion to Mexico,”) and wrongly putting gender equality, environmental protection, Indigenous rights and labour rights on the table.
There are holes in all those arguments.
Canadian negotiators realize the Americans could walk away. Ottawa will not make it easy on Washington by leaving the table itself.
Progressive addendums can be traded off for other wins, having Mexico at the table helps maintain congressional support in large southern states where trade with the southern neighbour is key and agreeing to unacceptable American demands is “capitulation,’’ as Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland calls it.
Before accepting Harper’s critique of Ottawa’s trade dealings with the U.S., it is helpful to remember his own spotty record with Washington and Mexico City.
While in opposition, Harper aligned himself with George W. Bush’s “coalition of the willing,’’ for his failed invasion of Iraq, something Harper agreed, five years later, was a mistake.
There were early disputes with Bush over Arctic sovereignty, although Harper did win a softwood lumber truce.
Things chilled with the election of Barack Obama, starting with the Democratic primaries of 2008 when a member of Harper’s inner circle was accused of leaking a private conversation from an Obama adviser revealing the candidate’s threat to rip up NAFTA was merely campaign rhetoric.
A deal called Beyond the Border was signed by Harper and Obama in 2011 and hailed as historic. It got bogged down in too many pilot projects and too little interest in the White House.
Washington implemented a Buy America policy.
Obama’s decision to wrap Keystone XL pipeline approval in domestic politics led Harper, in successive U.S. appearances, to label presidential approval a “no-brainer,’’ then vowing he would not take “no” for an answer.
Relations soured to the point that Harper cancelled a trilateral sum- mit with Mexico and the U.S. in 2015. Of course, by then, Harper had angered Mexico by precipitously slapping visa requirements on Mexicans travelling to Canada.
Trudeau and his team, on the other hand, have done the best with the worst card the American electorate could deal them.
They are dealing with a U.S. trade representative, Robert Lighthizer, whose comments after the wrap up of the last round of talks were so rude and condescending that, had he made them in Freeland’s home she would have rightly told him to leave.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross says Washington is asking Mexico and Canada for deep concessions and offering nothing in return, and Trump issues a threat to kill the deal whenever the spirit moves him.
Harper claims the Liberals are “Napping on NAFTA.’’ More accurately Ottawa is juggling a hand grenade while tap dancing.
At this point, it’s not clear what more they can do.
The most diplomatic statement of the week was Trudeau’s response to the man who used to like to denigrate him by calling him ‘Justin’: “I hold former prime ministers in high regard and will not make any comments on what he had to say.’’
On the trade file, diplomacy is in short supply. Tim Harper writes on national affairs. tjharper77@gmail.com, Twitter: @nutgraf1