Ottawa, ON – The Hon. Michael Chong, Conservative Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Hon. Ed Fast, Conservative Shadow Minister for Finance, Gérard Deltell, Conservative Shadow Minister for Innovation, Science and Industry, and Randy Hoback, Conservative Shadow Minister for International Trade and Supply Chain Resilience, released the following statement on the Canada-US relationship after the one-year anniversary of the Roadmap for a Renewed U.S. – Canada Partnership:

“Over a year since signing Roadmap for a Renewed U.S. – Canada Partnership, Liberal failures continue to plague our most important relationship with our closest trading partner and ally.

“We have heard regularly from businesses, workers, and labour groups who continue to be seriously affected by Justin Trudeau’s failure to nurture and protect the Canada-U.S. trade relationship.

“Time and time again, Justin Trudeau has failed to improve our relationship with the United States. Just this year alone, we’ve witnessed the cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline, the threatened shutdown of Line 5, trade challenges on dairy quotas, a proposed $12,500 tax credit for electric vehicles assembled in the US, a ban on our world-class PEI potatoes, and the doubling of softwood lumber tariffs that will hurt producers in Canada and raise the costs on consumers across the United States.

“This is in addition to the myriad of other issues that continue to plague our relationship with the United States, including the takeover of Canadian mining company Neo Lithium without a national security review, unclear and unpredictable border measures between our countries that have resulted in supply chain issues, the lack of regulatory cooperation between Canada and the United States, and the lack of seriousness from the Liberals when it comes to our continental defence, especially the Liberals’ continued refusal to ban Huawei from Canada’s 5G network, putting North American security at risk.

“With 1 in 5 jobs in Canada depending on exports to the United States, these threats have had a massive impact on local jobs from coast-to-coast-to-coast. Not being able to get goods to international markets, especially with our largest trading partner, will have a catastrophic impact on our economy, affecting millions of workers and their families across Canada.

“As the voice of those left behind in Justin Trudeau’s economy, Conservatives will defend local jobs and hold Justin Trudeau accountable for his failure to strengthen relations with our largest trading partner. Conservatives will continue to bring people together to find solutions to these pressing threats, secure better outcomes with the United States, and protect local jobs.”