OTTAWA 鈥� The possibility of the new NAFTA ratification process extending into the summer, resulting in a pre-election recall of the House cannot be excluded, says minister Marc Garneau.
In an interview on CTV鈥檚 Question Period, Transport Minister Marc Garneau was asked if Prime Minister Justin Trudeau would consider recalling the House over the summer in order to wrap up ratification before the fall election campaign.
In response he said that while Canada hopes to move in lockstep toward ratification alongside the United States and Mexico, 鈥渋t doesn鈥檛 exclude the possibility of something happening during the summer.鈥�
鈥淲e can鈥檛 predict how the ratification will go forward, we certainly hope that all of the parties in the House of Commons will support this deal. It is a good deal鈥� but we鈥檒l see how things unfold,鈥� Garneau said.
Almost eight months to the day after the deal was reached, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau introduced the more-than-150-page bill to implement the renegotiated NAFTA deal, known as USMCA or CUSMA, depending on what side of the border you are on.
The bill鈥擟-100 or the "Canada United States Mexico Agreement Implementation Act"鈥攚as tabled in the House of Commons on Wednesday.
It includes the legislative amendments needed to apply the new trade rules, but leaves the government some wiggle room so that it can ensure the text is aligned with whatever comes out of ongoing ratification processes in the United States and Mexico.
After tabling the bill, Trudeau spoke at length about the years-long renegotiating process, and called on his House colleagues to support the passage of C-100.
The Conservatives are expected to support passing the bill, but are vowing to use any debate time to raise their concerns, because as Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer sees it: "There is quite literally nothing about this deal that is better than the one before it."
The New Democrats, on the other hand, voted against a motion that allowed the bill to be tabled so it is yet to be seen if they鈥檒l back Bill C-100.
With just three scheduled sitting weeks left in the House, time is limited to usher through the major piece of legislation unless the Liberals decide to extend the sitting. MPs are scheduled to adjourn on June 21 for the last time before the election campaign kicks off.
The Senate is already scheduled to sit a week later, but it will already have a thick roster of government legislation to get through, this bill aside.
In order for the deal, which was reached in late September and signed in November after nearly 14 months of negotiations, to come into force, it needs to be ratified by all three countries in their respective legislative bodies.
