By Canadian Press

Bloc wants to slow down adoption of new NAFTA deal because of aluminum concerns

Jan 21, 2020 | 4:08 PM

MONTREAL — The Bloc Quebecois says it will seek to slow down the adoption of the new trade deal between Canada, the United States and Mexico.

Bloc leader Yves-Francois Blanchet told reporters today following a caucus meeting that his party wants to make sure there is a robust debate in Parliament about the deal’s treatment of Quebec’s aluminum industry.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said today he wanted to move quickly to approve the updated North American free-trade deal and added that he planned to table legislation to ratify it next week.

But Blanchet says the final agreement reached in December does not provide the same protections for Quebec’s aluminum industry as it does for the steel industry and Ontario’s auto-manufacturing sector.

Blanchet says his party will not agree to fast-track the deal and instead wants it to be studied in committee and debated at length in the House of Commons.

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Canada is the only signatory not to have ratified the new agreement, after the Republican-led U.S. Senate passed its implementation bill last week and Mexico did the same in June.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Jan. 21, 2020.

The Canadian Press