Scheer ‘would have signed better’ trade deal

• Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer is opening a new front in his party’s fight against the revamped NAFTA deal, saying he would have done better than Justin Trudeau.

The United States is measuring its success in the newly revised North American Free Trade Agreement by what it gained, Scheer tweeted Sunday. The Liberal government, on the other hand, is defining its achievement by what it didn’t give up.

Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland fired back, accusing the Opposition leader of showing “a lot of Monday morning courage.”

Scheer’s broadside comes as Parliament prepares to resume sitting after the Thanksgiving break, offering a glimpse of how the Conservatives will try to persuade the public they could have wrested a superior deal from the Trump administration.

Scheer argues his party would not have had to sign the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement because it would have negotiated a more attractive one for Canadians.

“Would I have signed this deal?” Scheer asked in his tweet. “I would have signed a better one.”

He offered no details about those improvements, and his spokesman indicated he was not immediately available for an interview, having just returned from a trade trip to India.

However, Scheer has accused the Liberals of making concessions in the auto, dairy and pharmaceutical sectors.

The Liberals say the new agreement, which still faces implementation hurdles, will protect billions of dollars of daily trade, supporting millions of Canadian jobs.