Ex-province premier says ongoing tensions with India not good for Canada
The former Premier of the Canadian province of British Columbia has said that Canada could suffer if a trade agreement with India is not secured amid ongoing bilateral tensions.
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Speaking during a media interaction following the India Insights conference organised by the Canada-India Business Council or C-IBC, Christy Clark, who was Premier (equivalent of Chief Minister) of BC from 2011 to 2017, said, “The country that loses when our trade agreement is delayed is Canada, not India. It’s Canada that suffers. The products that we produce are high value, high quality, but not impossible for India to find elsewhere in the world. It’s Canadian workers, it’s the Canadian economy, it’s all of us who are trying to kind of grow prosperity in this country that loses when there’s a pause in trade relations between our two countries.”
She added Canada does not “want to be the country that’s sitting it out” while others participate in the “opportunity” provided by “India’s explosive growth.”
She advised the Federal Government in Ottawa to “Get on with this agreement. Get it done. Find a way to lower the temperature between our two countries. And help us get back on it on the friendly footing.”
“We have so much in common and it’s a shame that we are not at the front of the line when it comes to making trade agreements with India and I don’t think the fault for that lies on the Indian side, quite frankly,” Clark, who is on C-IBC’s advisory council said.
India and Canada completed ten rounds of negotiations towards an Early Progress Trade Agreement (EPTA) before talks were “paused” by Ottawa in August, prior to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s statement in the House of Commons on September 18 that there were “credible allegations” of a potential link between Indian agents and the killing of Khalistani figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar on June 18 in Surrey, BC. A Team Canada Trade Mission to India, scheduled for October, was also called off.
Resumption of such talks is not expected anytime soon, and that’s what Victor Thomas, President and CEO of C-IBC has communicated to the chamber’s members. “Given everything that’s going on, I don’t foresee any significant trade talks happening imminently,” he said.
India’s High Commissioner to Ottawa Sanjay Kumar Verma would not discuss a “timeline” for EPTA talks to start again given it was a decision for Canada to “unpause”. However, he said he could see “convergence happening on concerns” between the two countries.
But another path forward, Clark suggested was for subnational governments, those of the Canadian provinces and territories taking the trade relationship forward. She underscored “the importance” of subnational governments working directly with governments in India. “There’s so much shared interest there,” she said.
In fact, on Thursday evening, at C-IBC’s annual Diwali Gala, among the awardees was the Premier of the Saskatchewan Scott Moe, who also made this point. “Saskatchewan’s relationship with the people of India has grown tremendously over the last 10 years. India is an extremely important partner for Saskatchewan, and we truly value the relationship we have built over the years,” he said.
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