The mayors canadians to the defence of the free trade Agreement north american

Stephanie Martin

Sunday, 28 January, 2018 00:00

UPDATE
Sunday, 28 January, 2018 00:00

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WASHINGTON | mayors canadians will put all their political weight to defend the free trade Agreement north american (NAFTA), and Régis Labeaume’s mission was to convince a close relative of the president Donald Trump to join them.

At the end of a three-day trip to Washington, the mayor of Quebec city starts with a mission. That to convince an elected republican close to the president of the United States to advocate for the maintenance of the NAFTA. Without wanting to reveal the identity of the character, Mr. Labeaume told the Journal that he is an elected official he knows and with which it must come into contact soon.

Idea of the ambassador

The idea comes from the Canadian ambassador in Washington, David MacNaughton, the mayor met at a reception, with his counterparts from Windsor, London, Saskatoon, Gatineau, and Edmonton.

The ambassador wishes that canada’s elected officials to contact their american counterparts to convince them to plead in favor of NAFTA, put into question by the administration to Trump.

“I have a very specific task to do. I’ll talk to the prime minister (Philippe) Couillard, in arriving, ” said Mr. Labeaume.

The argument that was most effective will be, according to the mayor, to talk about jobs. “The mayors need to know that 9 million jobs in the United States depend on the free trade. Canada, as trade partner of the United States, is more important than China, Japan, and Great Britain combined. But the Americans don’t know it. It has made a mistake of taking that for granted. “

Common crusade

There is also the matter of leading a crusade common with american mayors and mexicans who would like to commit to sign an agreement symbolic of the free trade agreement between their communities. “We’re going to take advantage of the political weight of mayors,” concluded Mr. Labeaume.