Erin O'Toole, Lisa Raitt, Ralph Goodale among the names on Carney's Canada-U.S. council

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney has tapped former envoy to the United Kingdom Ralph Goodale and past leader of the Conservative party of Canada Erin O’Toole to join a newly formed council meant to advise his government on Canada-U.S. relations. 

The Prime Minister’s Office announced the list of names on Tuesday, some of which remain the same from when former prime minister Justin Trudeau first formed a similar council at the outset of U.S. President Donald Trump threats of hitting Canada with tariffs early last year.

New additions to the council include O’Toole, who led the federal Conservatives from 2020 until early 2022. Since leaving politics, he has worked as president of ADIT North America, a firm that focuses on security and trade.

O’Toole said he was “honoured” to serve on the council and that he had “great respect for Americans,” in a statement released on Tuesday morning.

“Canada must pursue a fair deal with the United States from a position of strength. Protecting Canadian jobs and defending the North requires that we build up our sovereign capabilities. This requires a true ‘Team Canada” effort’,” he said.

Lisa Raitt, a former cabinet minister under the Conservative government of Stephen Harper who left politics in 2019, was also named to the group.

Goodale joins the group fresh off serving as Canada’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom after previously serving as a longtime Liberal cabinet minister, including during Trump’s first term in office when the Trudeau government negotiated t he Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, which is set to undergo a review this year. 

Other additions to the council include former Nunavut premier P.J. Akeeagok and Candace Laing, president and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

Carney’s office says Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who is the cabinet lead on Canada-U.S. relations, will chair the council, which will have its first meeting next week.

“The committee will serve as a forum for expertise and strategy on all aspects of the Canada-U.S. economic relationship,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.

“The advisory committee will include leaders from major sectors of the Canadian economy, representing extensive experience in business, investment, trade, and labour.”

National Post

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