Trudeau’s Brexit swipe at UK as he backed EU and gave pointed warning over trade deal

Justin Trudeau shut down by Neetu Garcha

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Mr Trudeau, 49, has just won a third term in office in a snap general election. However, calling the snap vote to secure a majority was a political risk, and Mr Trudeau has fallen short of his goal. His Liberal Party took 157 seats in parliament – the same number it won at the 2019 election. This was 13 seats short of the 170 needed to obtain a majority in the House of Commons.

Mr Trudeau will now have to seek the help of other parties in order to govern.

The Conservative Party won 121 seats, the left-wing New Democratic Party won 29, the Quebec nationalist party Bloc Québécois won 28, and the Green Party took two seats.

Despite failing to get a majority Mr Trudeau claimed he had been given a mandate to steer Canada out of the COVID-19 crisis.

He said: “You are sending us back to work with a clear mandate to get Canada through this pandemic and to the brighter days ahead.

“You have given this government and this parliament clear direction.”

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Mr Trudeau will now be firmly focused on his domestic agenda, including battling Canada’s latest surge in COVID-19 cases.

However, the Canadian Prime Minister has not been afraid to also concern himself with the internal politics of other countries in the past.

In an unearthed interview with Reuters from May 2016 Mr Trudeau confirmed he was against the UK leaving the EU.

He spoke ahead of the June referendum in which Britain voted to sever ties with the European trading bloc.

The Prime Minister said: “More unity is a path toward greater prosperity.

“We have a great relationship with a strong and united Europe and certainly hope that that continues.

“Britain is always going to have clout, it’s just obviously amplified by its strength as part of the EU. 

“I believe we’re always better when we work as closely as possible together and separatism, or division, doesn’t seem to be a productive path for countries.”

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Mr Trudeau also issued a pointed warning to the UK over its future trading relationship with Canada in the event of Brexit.

He said: “There’s nothing easy or automatic about that [negotiating a deal], so I think there’s a bit of an oversimplification of the story happening there.”

However, the UK and Canada signed a lucrative trade deal in December last year, weeks before the end of the transition period.

The UK Government said the agreement would support a trading partnership worth £20 billion annually and claimed the deal gave certainty to businesses exporting £11.4 billion of goods and services to Canada, including the automotive manufacturing and food and drink industries.

In June of this year International Trade Secretary Liz Truss then announced a fresh round of negotiations with Canada and Mexico.

Ms Truss said the Government wanted to build on the 2020 deals with both nations to secure “trail-blazing” new trade agreements.

She said: “We want these deals to be pioneering in digital and services trade, and bolder in our commitments to the environment.”
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