François-Philippe Champagne becomes second cabinet minister to publicly raise the prospect of decreasing trade with authoritarian countries such as China and Russia
Coyne: With the ‘Freeland Doctrine,’ the Liberals say what has long been apparent to everyone but them
“I think we’re coming to a day and age where citizens – and you see it with trade agreements that have been framed around the world – people want to trade with people who share, usually, the same values,” he said, adding “and, I think, countries which have the high standards with respect to human dignity, with respect to environmental law, to labour law.”
Roland Paris, a former foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and director of the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa, said the shift in messaging from the Canadian government on trade policy has been a bit abrupt.