A bipartisan huddle on NAFTA

Liberal cabinet praises former prime minister Mulroney, back on Parliament Hill as trade deal broker

OTTAWA — Liberal cabinet ministers say former prime minister Brian Mulroney provided them with useful advice Thursday during a closed-door meeting on the upcoming renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

It was part of an unprecedented display of non-partisan co-operation, a rarity on Parliament Hill — a remarkable healing of old political wounds and uniting in the name of managing a new, wildly unpredictable U.S. presidency.

There was also a hint of déjà vu. A smiling Mulroney, who departed politics more than a quarter century ago, said it was “as if I never left” as he exited the hallway from the Centre Block’s cabinet room.

Trudeau was not at the meeting of his cabinet committee on Canada-U.S. relations; he was in New York City for a women’s leadership summit. His ministers, however, said Mulroney made a valuable contribution.

“Our relationship with the United States should be nonpartisan,” said Transport Minister Marc Garneau, who chairs the cabinet committee. “We welcomed Mr. Mulroney this morning and certainly we benefited from his insights.”

Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said Mulroney “brought years of experience and perspective that will be very helpful in making sure that we achieve the very best results for Canada.”

Trade Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said it was “interesting to hear the expertise and experience from people who have had decades of experience dealing with the United States.”

Mulroney’s government fought and won an election on the first Canada-U.S. free trade deal in 1988, which became the precursor of the current NAFTA deal when Mexico was brought on board.

The 79-year-old former prime minister, a personal friend of Donald Trump, has been helping Justin Trudeau’s government navigate the new U.S. administration, setting aside his bitter antipathy for his father, Pierre Trudeau, in the process.

Mulroney has also been embraced by the new Conservative party — the one that former prime minister Stephen Harper essentially banished him from almost a decade ago after winning power, cementing a bitter rift between the two men. He has repeatedly urged Canadian politicians to set aside their domestic partisan interests to protect the country’s economic interests with the U.S., praising interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose for offering to work with the government.

But he didn’t mince words on what the Liberals faced moving forward on the NAFTA with an unpredictable Trump administration.