Sean Kilpatrick/CP U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence arrives to a family photo at the Summit of the Americas in Lima, Peru on April 14, 2018.

OTTAWA — U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence has been a valuable partner to Canada because he supports free trade, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said Thursday. Freeland says the government is looking forward to getting an update on U.S. efforts to ratify the new North American free trade pact when Pence visits Ottawa next week. Canada has yet to table legislation in Parliament to ratify the new version of the 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement, a treaty President Donald Trump has lambasted and repeatedly threatened to tear up. In the past, Freeland has labelled the Trump administration as protectionist, especially during the long and sometimes bitter NAFTA renegotiation. Watch: Freeland says Canadians were ‘so nice’ during tense trade talks

Freeland presented a more conciliatory view of Pence, who will be in Ottawa next Thursday following the Trump administration’s decision last week to lift its controversial tariffs on Canadian and Mexican steel and aluminum. Canada and Mexico said it would have been difficult to ratify the new trade deal with the metals tariffs in place. “It’s important for Canadians to remember that Vice-President Pence has been a strong and effective supporter of free trade. He has been someone who has spoken out in the United States about the value of NAFTA for both Canadians and Americans,” Freeland said after touring the Rio Tinto aluminum plant in Jonquiere, Que. Freeland said Canada especially appreciated Pence’s positive comments about NAFTA during the July 2017 meeting of U.S. state governors in Rhode Island, which Freeland attended with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Sean Kilpatrick/CP Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland hold a press conference regarding the United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA) in Ottawa on Oct. 1, 2018.

Freeland was seen taking notes during Pence’s speech, in which he said: “We will modernize NAFTA for the 21st century so that it is a win-win-win for all of our trading partners in North America.” Hearing Pence use the phase “win-win-win” was significant, Freeland said. “And he turned out to be right. He’s been a very important, valuable partner for Canada.” Uncertainty continues to swirl in the U.S. over Trump’s ability to get the new trade pact approved by Congress because of an escalating feud between him and U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is now openly criticizing his fitness to serve as president. On Tuesday night, the White House released a letter Trump sent to Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer expressing his preference for Congress to deal first with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. “Once Congress has passed USMCA, we should turn our attention to a bipartisan infrastructure package,” Trump said.

Mark Schiefelbein/AP via CP Mike Pence and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrive for a group photo at APEC Haus in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, on Nov. 18, 2018.