Ottawa, ON – The Hon. Erin O’Toole, Leader of Canada’s Conservatives and the Official Opposition, issued the following statement ahead of Justin Trudeau’s call with President Biden:

“We know that we need vaccines to round the corner of this pandemic and secure our future, but Justin Trudeau and the Liberals continue to let Canadians down during this crisis. During today’s meeting, Justin Trudeau needs to ask President Biden whether we can start to receive vaccines manufactured by our strongest ally, the United States.

“At a time when both our countries need to be focused on getting people back to work and returning to normal post-COVID-19, Justin Trudeau needs to show Canadians he’ll stand up for our interests and our jobs.

“Today, the Canada-U.S. relations committee Conservatives secured will also hold its first meeting. We hope to see Justin Trudeau raise the many concerns that the committee will be reviewing with President Biden. This includes the Trudeau Liberals’ failures to address ‘Buy American’ procurement rules, the economic impacts of the cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline, and the threat of the Line 5 cancellation on both our countries, as well as important issues like tariffs, energy security, and the environment.

“Too many Canadians have been left behind – with skilled job losses from the cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline and potentially more good-paying union job losses to come if Line 5 is cancelled. Will the Prime Minister raise the importance of these projects to our energy security and to the thousands of Canadians across Canada who depend on them to provide for their families – or will he let energy workers down again?”