By Canadian Press

Commons committee wants Freeland to testify about new Canada-U.S. mandate

Feb 8, 2017 | 1:18 PM

OTTAWA — A House of Commons committee wants to question Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland about her sweeping new mandate to advance Canada’s relations with the Trump administration.

Bob Nault, foreign affairs committee chairman and Liberal MP, said Freeland’s appearance would be part of a broad study of Canada-U.S. relations that is set to start next week.

The committee will also be delving into Canada-Russia relations following its recent trip to Poland, Ukraine and Latvia, where it got an earful about the threats posed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Nault said Freeland’s marching orders from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are unprecedented because they make her the de-facto trade minister with United States as well as Canada’s top diplomat.

“She has a mandate letter that is not one I’ve seen before, in my time,” the veteran MP said in an interview.

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“So that will be interesting to have her explain what she’s been asked to do by the prime minister, specifically the fact that she’s the foreign affairs minister but also the trade minister.”

The committee wants to hear from experts from both sides of the border who can explain to Canadians the depth and importance of the relations between the two countries, he said.

“People should not look at our relationship through the lens of an individual politician, or one issue or another. It’s a lot larger than that,” Nault said when asked about Trump.

He said he wants the hearings televised so Canadians can hear that directly.

Freeland’s office says the minister is expected to testify before the committee, but no date has been set.

As Freeland finished her two-day trip to Washington on Wednesday, she said she told U.S. politicians that Canada would strongly oppose new tariffs on cross-border trade. She dropped strong hints of retaliation.

She met the leading House lawmaker Paul Ryan and Senate foreign affairs power-brokers John McCain and Bob Corker on Tuesday before meeting the new Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson.

The two had a wide-ranging discussion that also touched on international security including Russia’s incursions into Ukraine.

Nault said the defence ministers of Canada’s NATO allies in Poland and Latvia, as well as their counterpart in Ukraine, offered dire warnings to his committee members about the threat posed by Putin.

And they told him to convey that back to the Canadian government — and to recommend that Canada deliver that message to the new Trump administration.

Nault, who does not speak for the government, said the committee would likely recommend the government do just that when it finishes its report on the trip.

Freeland hinted Wednesday that during her meeting with Tillerson, the former Exxon boss who had business ties to Putin, she took a hard line on Russia for its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean region almost three years ago.

“We both noted that both of us have considerable experience in our past lives in Russia,” said Freeland, referring to her time as a foreign correspondent based in Ukraine and Russia.

“It was a very good, substantive discussion,” she said.

“I expressed as I always do, Canada’s very strong support for Ukraine and our strong view the invasion and annexation of Crimea is illegal and a threat to the international order.”

Mike Blanchfield, The Canadian Press