OTTAWA - Canadian and European politicians are working this weekend to persuade Belgium's Walloons to abandon their opposition to the Canada-E-U trade deal known as CETA.
They face a deadline of a key meeting this coming Tuesday in Europe.
E-U trade ministers will meet then to vote on the pact, a week before Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is to join his E-U counterparts at a summit in Brussels, where the two sides are hoping to sign the deal.
Ministers from all 28 E-U countries must approve the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement or it is effectively dead.
Europe's ability to unanimously approve the deal was dealt a setback yesterday when the legislature of Belgium's Wallonia region voted to reject the deal.
A glimmer of hope remains.
As the week ended, the regional government had not yet formally told its federal counterpart in Brussels that it would not support the deal.
