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“Some appear to have been confused by this,” Trudeau said

“It’s as though they expect us to do trade exactly the same way it was done by our parents, a quarter century ago.”

He said trade deals have been broadly positive for the majority of citizens but if they were perfect there would be no populist backlash like the ones currently occurring, especially in former manufacturing regions slammed by offshoring and automation.

“So we need to do a better job of ensuring the benefits of trade extend to the middle class and those working hard to join the middle class — not just the wealthiest few,” Trudeau said.

“In short, progressive trade is not a frill. In addition to being the right thing to do, it is a practical necessity, without which popular support for a growth agenda cannot be maintained.”

Photo by Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press

He noted as an example the push for labour rights. Sources say the Canadian government hopes the new NAFTA includes stronger union protections for Mexican workers, and an end to U.S. right-to-work laws that limit the potential to strike.

Sources say some of these ideas have swiftly been deemed non-starters by the other NAFTA parties.

Trudeau delivered his speech on an aircraft carrier in the Hudson River where the black-tie Atlantic Council gala was held.

The speech included three themes: progressive trade, promoting human rights, and preserving the post-Second World War multilateral order. Some of those post-war institutions have come under attack recently by President Donald Trump, who argues that the U.S. pays too much into organizations like NATO and the United Nations and gets too little out of them.