American presidential election | “We’ve come a long way since the last time,” says Champagne

(Ottawa) Federal Minister of Innovation and former Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne believes Canada is “better placed today to negotiate” with the United States, regardless of who wins the election Tuesday south of the border.

“We’ve come a long way since the last time,” he said Tuesday, without specifying which time he was referring to. His comments, however, suggest that he was talking about the presidency of Republican Donald Trump, from 2016 to 2020.

Mr. Trump hopes to win over his Democratic rival Kamala Harris, but Mr. Champagne says he does not have “a crystal ball.”

“Today, our American partners need Canada in strategic supply chains,” said Mr. Champagne as he headed to a cabinet meeting.

Canada has notably invested, in recent years, in critical minerals used in the manufacturing of electric vehicles and batteries.

Mr. Champagne noted that he served as foreign minister during part of the Trump administration’s mandate, which was marked by a renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and tariffs. targeting Canadian aluminum and steel.

“Today, our supply chains are more integrated. We are strategic. We have moved from being a good neighbor to a strategic relationship,” believes Mr. Champagne.

The current Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly, assured that the interests of Canadians will be well defended by Justin Trudeau’s government, regardless of the scenario that materializes at the end of Tuesday’s election.

“We were able to defend the interests of Canadians when NAFTA was renegotiated and we will always be ready,” she maintained.

Minister Champagne assured that the lines of communication are good with both the Republican and Democratic camps.

“We have all the telephone numbers we need to make approaches from one side or the other. We have been working on it for months,” he summarized.

M^me Joly clarified that the steps taken in recent months were not limited to American territory. “We worked through our diplomatic network in the United States, but also across the world to be able to be ready and therefore we are ready,” she insisted.

She noted that the Trudeau government has dealt, since taking office, with three different American administrations and varied compositions of the American Congress.

With information from Michel Saba