The Canadian Leader of the Official Opposition, Andrew Scheer MP, has called upon the Canadian government to adopt free trade with Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
Written by James Skinner
Speaking at a breakfast hosted by the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce, Scheer spoke to a large audience and warned of NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement) potentially being cancelled by U.S. President, Donald Trump.
He also emphasized that Canada should be preparing itself for such an eventuality, and stated that the government should be reaching out to Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom immediately; a policy that a government led by his team would implement:
“We should be doing that kind of work now,” he said. “I don’t know why we’re waiting.”
Scheer has continually expressed his support for CANZUK International’s campaign, which was also supported by many MPs during the 2017 leadership election, including Erin O’Toole, Chris Alexander and Michael Chong.
During a debate in Vancouver earlier this year, Scheer stated:
“Absolutely, I very much support a trade deal with those countries. Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom have a similar basis of law, they have a common democratic system, they have the same types of legislation and regulations around investment and trade. Those are the types of things we don’t enjoy with China. I was a big proponent of Brexit before Brexit even happened [and] we should be pursuing a free trade deal immediately”.
CANZUK International is continuing to work with senior government officials within the Canadian government and ensure that trade agreements between Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom are adopted, along with provisions for freedom of movement and visa liberalisation for citizens.
Numerous MPs have already expressed high interest in closer CANZUK relations ahead of the national general election in 2019, whereby proposals will be advocated for Canada and the United Kingdom to join the Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement (CER) and the Trans-Tasman Travel Agreement which currently exist between Australia and New Zealand.
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