OTTAWA — Pierre Poilievre is wishing Mark Carney well in Washington this week but the Conservative leader wants the prime minister to return from his meetings with U-S President Donald Trump with results for Canadians.
Carney is headed to Washington today ahead of planned meetings with Trump on Tuesday where trade and security are expected to be high on the agenda.
Poilievre accuses Carney of breaking his promises made during the federal election campaign in a letter the Conservatives plan to send to the prime minister this morning.
He points out that U-S tariffs are still in place on Canadian steel, aluminum, copper, autos and softwood lumber despite Carney's pledge to negotiate a deal with Trump.
If Carney doesn't come back with progress on sectoral tariffs dogging key Canadian industries and a deal to end Buy American policies hampering domestic firms, Poilievre says the prime minister will have failed Canada.
Carney says Canada has among the best trade deals in the world with the United States, thanks largely to exemptions tied to the Canada-U-S-Mexico agreement, or CUSMA, which is up for review next year.
Poilievre says in his letter that Carney has his support and that all parties must put Canada ahead of politics in pursuit of a deal.