Kenney plans six-day trade trip to India

EDMONTON Opposition Leader Jason Kenney is planning a six-day trip to India to meet with senior government and business officials, said a Friday news release.

The UCP delegation will include MLAs Prasad Panda and Devin Dreeshen, who are pegged as the party’s energy and trade critics respectively.

“Albertans don’t know what his trade policy is, nobody does,” said Economic Development and Trade Minister Deron Bilous in an interview Friday. “What we do know is that his newly appointed trade critic spent a year campaigning for Donald Trump.”

Dreeshen, who was elected in the Innisfail-Sylvan Lake byelection in July, previously worked as a volunteer on Donald Trump’s successful 2016 presidential campaign.

A news release said the UCP delegation will depart on Sunday and head to New Delhi, Mumbai, Amritsar and Jamnagar. Pit stops will include a tour of a large petrochemical refinery and a roundtable with oil and gas executives.

Priorities will include speaking about tariffs that hinder market access for Alberta producers of peas and lentils, the release said.

“I do have a concern that there’s potential to create a little confusion when it comes to the work that we’re engaged on directly with Indian officials … toward eliminating the unfair tariffs they placed on Canadian pulses,” Bilous said.

Agriculture and Forestry Minister Oneil Carlier has led two trade missions to India, he added. “We recognize it as a growing market.”

Trade between Alberta and India is valued at about $350 million per year, Bilous said.

Kenney said he championed closer ties between Canada and India during his time as a federal politician.