Manitoba premier fears rise of isolationism in United States
Protectionist rhetoric in the U.S. has Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister concerned about the future of cross-border trade.
Pallister said Thursday that Canada must improve trade between its provinces as a bulwark against rising isolationism in the United States, where he says the presidential race "features an animosity to things like NAFTA" and trade with Canadians.
"It's pretty clear what both presidential candidates are doing and they're playing to parochial interests, as happens sometimes in politics," Pallister told reporters at a Manitoba Legislature press conference.
"Neither has expressed any big support for NAFTA," he said of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican candidate Donald Trump, whom he said are both courting votes in vote-rich states where isolationist sentiment is high.
"We're all running a business and we're employed by that business and if we hear our major customers are talking about not buying from us, we're pretty concerned."
Pallister made his comments during a press conference intended to highlight the tentative trade agreement reached by Canada's premiers in Whitehorse earlier this month. He said the conclusion of the deal will take months, not years.
He also said steps are being taken to allow Manitoba to join the New West Partnership trade bloc that already includes the other western Canadian provinces.
