Juno News - July 11, 2020


Trudeau refuses to attend formal signing of USMCA


Episode Stats

Length

5 minutes

Words per Minute

117.60888

Word Count

604

Sentence Count

34


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.000 On Wednesday there was a lavish ceremony laid out in the Rose Garden of the White
00:00:10.200 House. The occasion was for a formal signing of the NAFTA replacement deal
00:00:16.020 the USMCA. The White House said last week that President Donald Trump envisioned a
00:00:23.340 trilateral summit in Washington at the White House to inaugurate the new trade
00:00:30.100 pact he invited Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador known as AMLO and
00:00:36.420 Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to attend. There was to be a formal signing
00:00:43.060 in the Rose Garden along with remarks from each leader and talks about trade
00:00:49.020 issues followed by a formal dinner hosted by the President of the United States.
00:00:57.020 The USMCA is the world's biggest trade deal. Canada is largest trading partner of
00:01:04.020 the United States. Equally Canada and the US are intrinsically tied together with
00:01:09.840 things like NORAD in protecting North America. Quite possibly the world's most
00:01:15.000 important alliance and certainly the most important relationship to Canada. Yet
00:01:20.880 on Monday the Prime Minister declined the President's invitation citing scheduling
00:01:27.100 conflicts. According to the Prime Minister's itinerary for Wednesday July the
00:01:32.220 8th he had private meetings. He gave a speech to the International Labour
00:01:37.860 Organization Virtual Global Summit at 11 a.m. and supposedly spent the rest of the
00:01:44.000 day in Parliament. He didn't take questions at least that I could see if he
00:01:51.320 was there even. Finance Minister Bill Morneau gave his financial announcement
00:01:55.820 which included a mind-boggling deficit of 352 billion dollars but nothing from the
00:02:02.660 Prime Minister. Considering he'd been hiding out in Rideau Cottage for over three
00:02:08.540 months eschewing cabinet meetings and Parliament one can't see anything in the
00:02:14.300 excuses coming from the PMO which would justify missing the USMCA summit. So what
00:02:23.240 was so important that he couldn't fly two hours to Washington to attend a trade
00:02:28.940 summit when invited by the President of the United States? Claims that going would
00:02:35.660 breach the two-week quarantine rule for travelers from the United States are
00:02:41.300 specious at best. By attending he would be around a very limited number of people
00:02:47.240 and no one gets near the President without being tested first and being
00:02:53.000 confirmed negative. He could have gone, waved the flag, taken part in trade
00:02:58.580 discussions, attended the formal dinner and still have been at home to sleep in his
00:03:03.540 own bed. An anonymous PMO staffer tried to offer the spin that the PM was
00:03:11.100 concerned about proposed tariffs on steel and aluminum. Well isn't that a
00:03:17.760 reason to go and iron out any disputes? Trump was gracious in his remarks saying
00:03:23.940 quote we will have a separate day with Canada and they will come down at the
00:03:29.400 appropriate moment unquote. AMLO too was gracious in noting Trudeau's absence
00:03:35.940 saying quote the trade deal will benefit all three countries and their people
00:03:40.560 unquote. All of the US news coverage noted Canada's absence from the signing
00:03:47.460 ceremony essentially without explanation. It was to say the least a diplomatic
00:03:56.100 faux pas that was totally unnecessary. It certainly diminished Canada's standing
00:04:01.980 with the US president or at least Trudeau's. He did nothing to cement relations
00:04:07.620 with Mexico's new president. These are our largest trading partners. Trudeau may
00:04:14.340 think he lives in a bubble and he won't be criticized for whatever he does or
00:04:19.440 doesn't do. But that is a fallacy notwithstanding the mainstream media who
00:04:24.900 carry his water. Canadians know what's important and this trade summit was
00:04:31.800 important. Trudeau deliberately missing it was malfeasance from a prime minister.
00:04:37.560 And all of this was before the WE scandal even broke. For True North, I'm Leo Knight.
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