Re-negotiations are continuing with a deal unexpected by the end of 2017

WASHINGTON, DC. (NEWS 1130) – Stephen Harper has come out against his successor’s handling of NAFTA negotiations with the United States.

He criticizes the Trudeau Liberals in a memo titled, “Napping on NAFTA.”

The memo was obtained by The Canadian Press and it criticizes the government in several ways: For rejecting US proposals outright, insisting on negotiating with Mexico, and promoting liberal priorities like labour, gender, environment and aboriginal issues.

The former prime minister says the NAFTA talks are going, in his words, “very badly,” that the talks are in “real trouble,” and the Liberal government had better get its head around this reality.

That assessment comes in a two-page note from the firm Harper & Associates, signed by chairman Stephen Harper.

The current government calls the letter ill-timed and perplexing: Liberal officials say Harper is essentially calling on the Canadian government to make concessions, and they say this note from a high-profile Canadian is a gift to the US negotiating side.

US President Donald Trump’s escalating threat to trigger NAFTA’s cancellation clause as a high-pressure bargaining tactic has raised the question of what Canada’s response might be in the face of a gun-to-the-temple negotiating strategy.

Several insiders say the correct answer is: Nothing.

Canada should remain at the bargaining table and likely will, for its own strategic reasons, say several insiders, including Canada’s chief negotiator for the original NAFTA, the head of the Commons foreign affairs committee, and a cross-border trade lawyer.

Their reasoning is shared by some high-ranking officials in the Canadian government who believe the country’s interests are best served by calmly sticking it out rather than stomping off and augmenting the presidential drama.

It’s an increasingly pressing matter. Trump has begun telling people he wants to trigger NAFTA’s Article 2205, which allows a country to withdraw with six months notice, because he believes it will scare Canada and Mexico into concessions.

Mexico has said it will refuse to negotiate under such a scenario. But some prominent Canadians, inside and outside government, favour an opposing approach, arguing patience is likeliest to produce desired outcomes.