The Mulroney Government approved the sale of Ogilvie Mills, the last independent milling company in Canada to ADM after they passed NAFTA:

“The sheer fact that Brian Mulroney went from being a Canadian prime minister to the most prominent director of Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) should never be lost o­n the investigation. . . .

http://plawiuk.blogspot.ca/2005/07/ethanol-scam-adm-and-brian-mulroney.html

http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCAKBN187235-OCATP

by David Ljunggren

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada’s senior negotiator at talks to renew NAFTA will be the official who worked for years to push through a major free trade deal with Europe, two sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

Steve Verheul faces another challenge as he deals with the United States, which is threatening to walk away from the three-nation North American Free Trade Agreement unless major changes are made. The talks, which will also include Mexico, are due to start later this year.

“He will play a significant and instrumental role in handling and managing any future negotiations,” said one of the sources, who requested anonymity because the news had not been announced yet.

The development was previously reported by the iPolitics website.

Verheul is a career bureaucrat. At certain points during the talks, Canada will most likely be represented by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau or Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, said the sources.

Verheul enjoyed a close working relationship last year with Freeland – who was then trade minister – as they strained to seal the pact with the European Union, which at one stage looked close to collapse.

Freeland is now in overall charge of ties with the United States. She has praised Verheul several times in public.

The talks on the EU trade deal were started by Canada’s Conservative government in 2009. Former trade minister Ed Fast, who worked with Verheul for years, described him as a brilliant tactician.

“He has the ability to remain calm under trying circumstances … he is incredibly patient,” Fast said in a phone interview.

The negotiations are crucial for Canada, which sends

75 percent of its goods exports to the United States.

The Canadian government also intends to send a top trade bureaucrat to Washington to serve as the deputy head of the embassy, starting in September, the sources said.

Kirsten Hillman, currently in charge of trade policy at the foreign ministry, was Canada’s chief negotiator at talks on the proposed 12-nation Trans Pacific Partnership pact.

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of the treaty in late January. The remaining 11 nations met last week to discuss ways of reviving the agreement.

Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Alistair Bell

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/mulroneys-advice-to-trudeau-on-nafta-head-down-and-mouth-shut/article35332763/

Americans should fear Canada’s economic clout but until formal free-trade negotiations begin, “we keep our heads down and our mouths shut,” says former prime minister Brian Mulroney.

Mr. Mulroney, whose Progressive Conservative government signed the original Canada-U.S. free-trade deal in 1988, said the Trudeau government is well-placed to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with the United States and Mexico but officials should refrain from responding to incremental developments in public.

“What we should do is what we’ve been doing: We keep our heads down and our mouths shut,” said Mr. Mulroney, speaking at a conference on Friday hosted by left-leaning think tank Canada 2020.

“Don’t take the bait. We deal with this at the negotiating table.”

Mr. Mulroney, who is friends with U.S. President Donald Trump and owns a home nearby the President’s in Palm Beach, Fla., has been offering advice to the Trudeau government on renegotiating the trilateral trade deal, with talks expected to start as early as August.

When the process begins, Mr. Mulroney said one of the most important words for Canada’s negotiators is “no.”

“We’re not some pushover little country,” Mr. Mulroney said.

He said Canada has an economy worth almost $2-trillion with 36 million people, which is comparable to the Soviet Union, which has 138 million people.

“Hell, the Americans should be more fearful of us than Russia.”

He praised Mr. Trudeau for putting together a “highly talented and capable team” to handle the trade file, including Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland.

“I’ve known Justin since he was two years old,” Mr. Mulroney said. “I warned the Conservatives: Be careful, don’t underestimate this guy. There’s a hell of a lot more there than you fellas give him credit for.”

He also paid tribute to former interim leader Rona Ambrose, who frequently travelled to Washington to meet with lawmakers and advance Canada’s interests on the trade front. She has since joined D.C.’s Wilson Centre as a global fellow.

“There’s no Conservative way to negotiate a comprehensive free-trade agreement with the United States, and there’s no Liberal way to do it. There’s only a Canadian way,” Mr. Mulroney said.

“I think there are times when political parties should lay down their arms and support a national initiative. This is one of them.”

Mr. Mulroney said he spoke with Mr. Trump’s adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who said the United States was impressed Ms. Ambrose’s Conservatives offered to help the Liberals advocate for Canada’s interests on the trade file.

“We’re going to need all the help we can get,” he said.

During the American election campaign, Mr. Mulroney said both Mr. Trump and Democrat Bernie Sanders portrayed trade as hurting the U.S. economy, which created “serious problems.”

“The enemy is not trade. The enemy is technology,” he said, noting when he was in office, there were no cellphones or Internet.

“Now technology and automation are displacing jobs all over the place, and the challenge is to reconstruct the economy.”

While Mr. Trump has pledged to bring back the coal industry to the American Midwest, Mr. Mulroney said that would be a “Band-Aid solution.”

“The answer is not that. It is in a greener economy, and it is in training and retraining of employees to handle new jobs that are being created,” he said.

Speaking to reporters after his speech, Mr. Mulroney said he’s spoken to Mr. Trump’s senior team this week but not the president himself, who is reportedly facing an investigation from special prosecutor Robert Mueller for obstruction of justice relating to questions about Russian interference in the American election.

When asked if the political turmoil south of the border could impact the negotiations, he said “anything’s possible.”

“But this is so important to the United States and to Canada and to Mexico, that my guess is that the governments – when they start at the table – they’re going to want to make certain they conclude an important new agreement,” he said.