Two weeks after Trudeau, Team Canada delegation wraps up latest D.C. visit
Canada still has "runway" to work with in its effort to prevent a proposed U.S. tax credit for electric vehicles from kneecapping the auto industry north of the border, International Trade Minister Mary Ng said Friday.
Ng was wrapping up several days of meetings on Capitol Hill with U.S. lawmakers who will eventually have to pass judgment on a central component of President Joe Biden's legislative agenda.
That component, the Build Back Better bill, currently includes a juicy incentive for U.S. car buyers that would be worth up to $12,500 on vehicles made on American soil and built with union labour.
Many of the members of Congress who took part in the meetings said they're still a long way from having decided how they're going to vote, Ng said in an interview at the Canadian Embassy.
"There is still work to be done, (but) I would say that there is still runway," she said.
"I heard from senators that they were not ready to vote on this, that they have work to be done. To me, that continues to therefore be an opportunity for Canada to keep doing this piece of work to find a solution."
Ng led a multipartisan delegation of MPs, business leaders and union heads to the U.S. capital, just two weeks after taking part in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's visit to the White House, to raise and reiterate Canada's concerns about a host of bilateral trade irritants.
Atop that list is the electric-vehicle tax credit, which for Biden is an important element of his strategy to address climate change, jump-start his country's moribund manufacturing sector and create stable, good-paying jobs for working-class Americans.
Ng acknowledged that her meetings were more "granular" than the high-level discussions that took place in mid-November with Trudeau and Ng, as well as Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly and Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino.
But like those meetings, the level of familiarity with Canada's concerns ran the gamut, she said.
"I would say that in some of the meetings, I was doing a little bit of a briefing," Ng said.
"Some had more knowledge, others had less, (but) there was receptivity to doing more work on their part and then continuing the conversation with Canada, which I think is really good. There was receptivity at finding solutions with Canada."
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has made public declarations that he expects the Build Back Better bill to come to a vote before the Christmas break, but a number of key senators, including West Virginia Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin, have expressed skepticism about that timeline.
Manchin, whose vote will be critical in the evenly divided Senate, has in recent weeks expressed misgivings about the tax credit idea, in particular because Toyota is a major employer in his state.
These days, however, his concerns tend to revolve around the true price tag of the $1.75-trillion climate change and social spending package, as well as its potential effect on an inflation rate already topping six per cent.
The Canadian delegation included Conservative MP Randy Hoback, NDP counterpart Daniel Blaikie and Sebastien Lemire of the Bloc Quebecois.
The delegation also raised concerns about the recent U.S. decision to nearly double duties on Canadian softwood lumber, as well as a threat to ban potato shipments from Prince Edward Island over concerns about evidence of a fungal outbreak.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 3, 2021.
IN DEPTH
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
'Democracy requires constant vigilance' Trudeau testifies at inquiry into foreign election interference in Canada
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau testified Wednesday before the national public inquiry into foreign interference in Canada's electoral processes, following a day of testimony from top cabinet ministers about allegations of meddling in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. Recap all the prime minister had to say.
As Poilievre sides with Smith on trans restrictions, former Conservative candidate says he's 'playing with fire'
Siding with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on her proposed restrictions on transgender youth, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre confirmed Wednesday that he is against trans and non-binary minors using puberty blockers.
Supports for passengers, farmers, artists: 7 bills from MPs and Senators to watch in 2024
When parliamentarians return to Ottawa in a few weeks to kick off the 2024 sitting, there are a few bills from MPs and senators that will be worth keeping an eye on, from a 'gutted' proposal to offer a carbon tax break to farmers, to an initiative aimed at improving Canada's DNA data bank.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
India's foreign minister reacts to murder charges, claims Canada welcomes criminals
India's Foreign Affairs Minister accused Canada of welcoming criminals from his country in response to the RCMP's recent arrests in a homicide that has roiled tensions between the two countries.
BREAKING 15-year-old boy stabbed in Ottawa on Thursday dies
A 15-year old boy who was critically injured after a stabbing in Nepean on Thursday has died of his injuries, Ottawa's English public school board said Sunday.
Dash cam catches moment suspected drunk driver hits parked car, sends it careening into North Shore flower shop
Police say it’s fortunate no one was injured or killed in a collision at North Vancouver’s Park and Tilford shopping centre Saturday evening that sent one vehicle careening into a flower shop and another into a set of concrete barriers outside a Winners store.
'A tiny city:' Pro-Palestinian campus protesters organize for another week
Pro-Palestinian activists have set up tents at universities in Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver and Montreal, following a wave of similar protests at campuses in the United States linked to the Israel-Hamas war.
Lawsuit against Meta asks if Facebook users have right to control their feeds using external tools
Do social media users have the right to control what they see — or don't see — on their feeds?
Princess Anne lays wreath at Battle of Atlantic ceremony; honours late Queen
Princess Anne saluted Canadian veterans and current forces members today during a ceremony at British Columbia's legislature cenotaph commemorating the Second World War's Battle of the Atlantic.
El Nino weakening doesn't mean cooler temperatures this summer, forecasters say
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.
As storms moves across Texas, 1 child dies after being swept away in floodwaters
A child in Texas died Sunday after being swept away in floodwaters as storms swept across the state.
Nylander defends Leafs' core after playoff exit, Toronto again picks up the pieces
The Maple Leafs battled back from a 3-1 series deficit against the Boston Bruins with consecutive 2-1 victories - including one that required extra time - in their first-round playoff series to push the club's Original Six rival to the limit before suffering a devastating Game 7 overtime loss.
Local Spotlight
Twin Alberta Ballet dancers retire after 15 years with company
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
B.C. mayor stripped of budget, barred from committees over Indigenous residential schools book
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three Quebec men from same family father hundreds of children
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
Here's how one of Sask.'s largest power plants was knocked out for 73 days, and what it took to fix it
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
Quebec police officer anonymously donates kidney, changes schoolteacher's life
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Canada's oldest hat store still going strong after 90 years
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Road closed in Oak Bay, B.C., so elephant seal can cross
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
B.C. breweries take home awards at World Beer Cup
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Kitchener family says their 10-year-old needs life-saving drug that cost $600,000
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.